Joe Segal (January 1925 – 31 May 2022) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.[1][2]

Segal was born at Vegreville, Alberta, moving to Edmonton as a child.[3] He left school at an early age, beginning his business career by going door to door painting garages with army surplus paint after his father's death.[4] After serving in the Second World War, he settled in Vancouver, establishing first an army surplus store and then a clothing store which evolved into the Fields department store chain with more than 100 locations across Western Canada.[3] After Fields acquired a majority stake in Zellers department stores in 1976, followed by a reverse takeover, Segal became a major shareholder in the Hudson’s Bay Company when the historic department store purchased Zellers. Segal was a regular at the luxury Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver where he had a table for lunch for over 30 years.[4] He was a major real estate investor, and later a developer with Kingswood Capital Corporation.

Well known for his philanthropy, Segal received the Order of British Columbia in 1992 and then the Order of Canada in 1993. He was a board member of Simon Fraser University and served as chancellor from 1993-1999. In 2005, SFU’s Segal Graduate School of Business at the Vancouver campus was named after him honouring his contributions to the university. The name of the Joseph & Rosalie Segal & Family Health Centre addictions and mental health treatment facility at Vancouver General Hospital honours their donations to the building of the centre. [4]

He was survived by his wife of 74 years, Rosalie, four children, 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Vancouver philanthropist, billionaire Joe Segal dead at 97
  2. ↑ "Vancouver businessman, philanthropist and war veteran Joseph Segal has died". theprovince.
  3. 1 2 "Fields". HBC Heritage. Hudson's Bay Company. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Appel, Jeremy (2 June 2022). "Obituary: Joe Segal, the former owner of Canadian department stores and more, is remembered for his generosity". The Canadian Jewish News. The Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 6 July 2022.


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