TORONTO — Wallace McCain, co-founder of McCain Foods Limited and chairman of Maple Leaf Foods, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Friday, May 13. He was 81.
Wallace and his brother, Harrison, founded McCain Foods Ltd., in 1956, transforming it from a french-fry plant to a frozen-food conglomerate with sales in excess of $6 billion. Years later in, 1994, Wallace was pushed out of the company following a disagreement with his brother (with whom he later made amends). He went on to transform Toronto’s struggling Maple Leaf Foods into Canada’s largest food processor, with annual sales of $5 billion.
In the days since his death, there has been an outpouring of fond memories of the businessman. “We salute today … one of this country’s greatest entrepreneurs, one of its most generous philanthropists and a wonderful man. Wallace’s passing was a huge loss for Canada, particularly his beloved New Brunswick,” said Frank McKenna, the former N.B. premier, who will deliver the eulogy for the business icon on Friday, May 20, at a service in Toronto.
Wallace is survived by his wife, Margaret, his four children and nine grandchildren.
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