Rochester Avenue was dedicated to Colonel Don Rochester by the Canada Lands Company on January 18, 2006, as part of their redevelopment of Edmonton’s former Canadian Forces Base (Griesbach Barracks).
Colonel Rochester enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1941. During the Second World War, he commanded the 24 Field Company in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and was later transferred to the 8 Field Squadron in Germany as Second-in-Command. In 1949, Rochester became Chief Instructor at the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he was chosen to command 57 Independent Field Squadron, the first Royal Canadian Engineers unit to serve in Korea. For this service, Rochester was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Rochester commanded the Canadian contingent of the United Nations Emergency Force in the Gaza Strip following the Sinai War of 1956. In 1964, he became Commandant of the Royal Canadian School of Military Engineering at Chilliwack, British Columbia, and Commander of Camp Chilliwack. Rochester acted as Chief Engineer of the Canadian Army. In the late 1960s, he became involved in the planning and creation of a permanent airborne commando regiment. In 1968, Rochester became the first commander of the Canadian Airborne Regiment based at Griesbach Barracks, Edmonton. Before he retired in 1969, Rochester helped build the Regiment into one of the most respected fighting units in the Canadian Armed Forces.
