Kenneth Colin Irving
| K.C. Irving | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Kenneth Colin Irving March 14, 1899 Bouctouche, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died | December 13, 1992 (aged 93) Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur Industrialist |
Kenneth Colin Irving, OC (March 14, 1899 – December 13, 1992) also known as K. C. Irving was one of Canada's foremost entrepreneurs of the 20th century and ranked as one of the world's leading industrialists. K. C. Irving's business began with a family sawmill in Bouctouche, N.B., in 1882. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. According to Fortune Magazine in September 1989, at the age of 90, K.C. Irving was the 11th wealthiest man in the world with an estimated fortune of $10 billion.
Born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, as a youngster Irving was viewed as a tough kid from a rough sawmill town on the Northumberland Strait. There are many accounts of his rough and tumble attitude in schoolyard fights. He began his entrepreneurial streak early, but this was tempered by the dawn of World War I. Irving, along with several friends attempted to enlist but his father put an end to it by enrolling him at Acadia University. Irving left Acadia before graduation and took a cross-country adventure to British Columbia before returning to Bouctouche. His father did not oppose his second attempt to enlist and Irving entered the Royal Flying Corps in order to train to become a pilot, although he never saw action as the war ended shortly thereafter.
Following the war, he returned home to Bouctouche where he dabbled in the merchant trade, and started to sell Ford automobiles, aged 22; within two years, the sales territory of southern Kent County was his. In 1924, he opened a petrol station under the Imperial Oil logo. He was unceremoniously dumped from that franchise within the year, whereupon he contacted Samuel Lloyd Noble in order to purchase a supply from him. By 1925 he opened a second service station in nearby Shediac. Through hard work and persistence, he would eventually transform what became known as Irving Oil into a 3,000 franchise distributor across the Maritimes.
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