Don MacLaren was born in Ottawa on May 8, 1893. When he was 6 years old the family moved to Calgary, AB. They moved again when he was nearly 18, to Vancouver, BC and in 1913 to the remote northern Alberta hinterland at Keg River Prairie, AB, 200 miles north of Peace River Crossing.

In 1916 Donald applied for and was accepted into the Royal Flying Corps. At wars end he was tied in 8th spot for all fighter pilots Aces in WWI. For more about his story during WWI see http://www.constable.ca/maclaren.html. In 1920, Canada formed a Canadian Air Force separate from the RAF. Two fighter squadrons were formed at Shoreham; MacLaren was put in command of Fighter Squadron 1.

With cut backs to the Air Force he was demobilized to Canada where he resigned his commission and went into commercial aviation. He started his own company in Vancouver in 1921; Pacific Airways Limited. He merged with Western Canada Airways (WCA) in 1928 and he was made superintendent of the Western Canada division. Eventually WCA was taken over by Canadian Airways and he was appointed assistant general manager for B.C. When the Canadian government formed a national airline in 1937, Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA), Donald MacLaren was recruited by TCA to be the assistant to the vice-president. In 1940, he rose to be the superintendent of stations and by the end of WWII was executive assistant to the president.

During WWII he took an active interest in the Air Cadet League and in 1941 formed the first squadron in Winnipeg. As well as, being Manitoba's first Provincial Committee Chairman, he was soon appointed the League's first president. He retired from TCA in 1958. In 1976 he was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame for a lifetime of achievement in Canadian flying. His medals are held at the Canadian War Museum. He died on July 4, 1988 at the age of 95.