May 2007 ISSUE
obituaries
Alberta Loses
Children’s Hospital Namesake
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Robert Stollery, P.Eng. |
A philanthropist and construction leader with one of Edmonton’s most recognizable names was laid to rest recently. Robert Stollery, OC, P.Eng. – the man behind Stollery Children’s Hospital – died March 14 at age 82 after a nine-year battle with cancer.
Fittingly, his family chose to have donations made in his memory to what was probably his best-known accomplishment, the hospital that carries his name. Mr. Stollery started fighting to have this top-notch medical facility created in the early 1980s, a time when Alberta was suffering from a sagging economy and an even less vibrant construction industry.
But for 25 years he worked to see the doors of his dream opened. In 2001, he and his wife, Shirley, did exactly that.
An avid children’s welfare advocate, Mr. Stollery didn’t stop at the opening of the hospital. The same year, he gave quite a dig to the more affluent community in Edmonton through a speech at a charitable function. In that speech he chastized well-heeled people for not being as giving as they could be. He didn’t care a whit what the mayor or the crowd thought of his words.
“Surely all Albertans would be proud to do without a few new buildings, a few highway upgrades, a few school upgrades, in order to show the rest of the world that we are, in fact, different – that we do in fact care about the poor and disadvantaged,” he said.
Mr. Stollery spent his entire life in Edmonton, with exception of a brief time serving his country with the navy during the Second World War. He started out as an apprentice bricklayer under his father, and then a plasterer. He was a journeyman in both trades before departing for the navy.
When he returned from the war, Mr. Stollery attended the University of Alberta, taking civil engineering and graduating with honours. Fresh out of university in 1949, he took a junior position with what is now PCL family of companies. Mr. Stollery would remain at PCL for the duration of his career, starting as a site engineer and ending as the chief executive officer and chairman.
The late John Poole, former owner of Poole Construction – which went on to become PCL – recalled Mr. Stollery’s arrival at the company this way:
“Sometimes things work out for the best. In 1949 we had our eye on a particular young engineer. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to join Poole because his brother Charlie worked for us. He applied with another contractor in Calgary, who wouldn’t hire him, ironically because his brother worked for us, so he came back and started with Poole.
“His name was Bob Stollery.”
One of Mr. Stollery’s most notable projects followed a massive fire that destroyed the Jasper Park Lodge in 1952. Mr. Stollery helped PCL’s founder, Ernest Poole, with the rebuilding project.
The entire project was designed and completed in just eight months – no small feat for a mountainous region in the 1950s with no accommodation. The entire team lived there for the project’s duration, in circus tents rented from the Ringling Brothers in Florida. The team finished on time, having worked furiously through the winter and sometimes seven days a week, for a grand re-opening in June of 1953.
Mr. Stollery was the recipient of many awards and honours. They include three honorary doctorate law degrees, induction as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and induction into the Edmonton Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement.
APEGGA presented him the Frank Spragins Technical Award in the 1981 Summit Awards. He was once Canadian Business Leader of the Year and was named one of Edmonton’s top 100 Edmontonians of the century.
He was also honoured for his lifetime of achievements and making a difference to the country with the Order of Canada.
Mr. Stollery is survived by his wife, three children and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews.