West Fraser Timber
Canadian forestry company
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., commonly known as "West Fraser", is a Canadian forestry company that produces lumber, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), medium-density fibreboard (MDF), oriented strand board (OSB), plywood, pulp, newsprint, and wood chips. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia,
the company is a member of the Forest Products Association of Canada. As of 2023, West Fraser had been recognized eight times as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers.
History
West Fraser Timber was founded in 1955 by three brothers from Seattle: Samuel Kendall Ketcham, Henry Holman ("Pete") Ketcham Jr., and William Peters Ketcham. Their father was Hank Ketcham, who played college football for the Yale Bulldogs and was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame.
The three brothers decided to do business together and purchased a small planing mill in Quesnel, British Columbia. Samual Ketcham served as president of the company until his death in November 1977 in a helicopter crash. He was succeeded by Douglas Johnston, and later by Chester Johnson. Henry H. Ketcham, son of "Pete" Ketcham, became president in 1985.
The public source identifies “West Fraser Timber” as canadian forestry company. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around West, Fraser and Timber.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “West Fraser Timber”, the useful work is to connect “canadian forestry company” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1765036. VIAF identifies the subject as 126605409. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023, 1955, 1977 and 1985.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “West Fraser Timber” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.