March 2007 ISSUE
OBITUARY
Alberta Loses
Construction Giant John Poole, P.Eng.
John Edward Poole, P.Eng., former co-owner of what would become the PCL family
of companies, passed away Jan. 22. He was 90.
Born in Regina on Feb. 18, 1916, Mr. Poole moved to Edmonton when he was just 16. During the Depression, his father’s company, Poole Construction, won a contract to rebuild the main highway from Cochrane to the gates of Banff National Park. One of Mr. Poole’s first jobs involved that contract — he was a greaser and timekeeper at one of the company’s gravel crushing sites, near Camrose.
Soon after graduating from the University of Alberta with a degree in civil engineering, Mr. Poole was called to join the war effort. He relocated to Montreal to help design munitions plants.
Once the war was over, he returned to Alberta and started a venture that would become world renowned.
Mr. Poole and his brother purchased Poole Construction from their father, Ernest, in 1948. John and George Poole helped turn a modest construction company into a Canadian giant.
In 1977 the Poole brothers sold their majority stake to the company’s employees. Mr. Poole retired then — or so he said. Poole Construction went on to become known as PCL Construction Ltd. in 1979. There was an office with Mr. Poole’s name on it and he visited often.
Today, PCL ranks as the largest contracting organization in Canada and 10th largest in the United States.
PCL has built or been involved in a huge number and range of projects around the world. Among them are the repairs and extension of the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton, the extension of the original Calgary Tower observation deck, construction of the Anthony Henday Drive southeast leg ring road in Edmonton, and construction of a community for seniors in Honolulu.
While he made a fortune in construction, Mr. Poole gave a great deal of it away. His philanthropic causes included Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. The Poole name also graces one of the new structures at the University of Alberta, the John and Barbara Poole Family Atrium.
Having a building or a wing in his name was never a goal for Mr. Poole. He wasn’t in it for the fame or gratitude.
“He was the kind of man who would have an egg salad sandwich over a donation of a $1-million,” said Tony Luppinno, executive director of the Art Gallery of Alberta, in published reports. “He did it because it was the right thing to do.”
Mr. Poole was most proud of his wilderness preservation and environmental work. A wildlife preserve Mr. Poole and his wife, Barbara, helped create is the largest land preserve in Canada, at the edge of Waterton National Park in southwestern Alberta.
What he said about the preserve is indicative of his lifetime of works and achievements: “You don’t often get a chance to do something that will last forever.”
Mr. Poole is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara, and by children Scott, Peter and Susan. His brother, George, predeceased him in 1997.