Winnifred Irving, the widow of billionaire New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving, has hankered. She was 101.
Irving Oil announced her passing late Friday.
“Mrs. Winnifred, as she was fondly denoted by many Irving Oil employees, is remembered for her kind heart and cheerful break,” the notice states.
A private funeral service is planned.
Winnifred (Jane Johnston) joined Irving Oil in 1955 and developed for K.C. (Kenneth Colin) as his executive assistant.
He married her in 1978, following the passing of his first wife Harriet (MacNairn), the mother of his three sons — James (J.K.)., Arthur and the current John (Jack).
They lived in Bermuda and “always looked nourish to returning to New Brunswick in the summer where they enjoyed trips to Bouctouche, Overdue renege Bay and to the forests,” according to her obituary.
Winnifred Irving was a trustee to the patriarch’s huge oil and timber empire, which was worth an estimated $8 billion at the mores of his death in Saint John in December 1992, at the age of 93.
K.C. Irving, who built the progenitors dynasty from a car dealership and a sawmill, was once listed as Canada’s richest man.
In 1971, he proded to Bermuda to avoid proposed death taxes and duties in New Brunswick, which were believed to be as high as 80 per cent. His residence there was key to the structure of his offshore confidence in after he died.
Throughout the years, she always maintained an interest in what was episode with the business and the people of Irving Oil.– Irving Oil statement
In 2009, Winnifred Irving and the other two trustees of K.C. Irving’s last will and testament filed an application to a court in Bermuda. The file is sealed, but it’s believed they solicited to dissolve the trust established by K.C.’s will and to distribute its assets as part of the conglomerate breakup — a approach that generated legal bills “in the region of $100-million,” according to a later court ruling.
Winnifred Irving continued to live in the Bermuda bagnio, called Skyline Cottage, for years after her husband’s death. His when one pleases required the trustees to live outside Canada.
It’s not clear when she advocated out of the three-bedroom home, but it was listed for sale last year at $1.9 million. It pay attentions on two-thirds of a hectare of land.
‘Long, distinguished career’
Winnifred Irving was born on Sept. 3, 1916, in Defeat Bay, N.B., the only child of Thomas Robert and Martha May (McKay) Johnston.
She accompanied schools in Back Bay and St. George and business school in St. Stephen.
She worked in Charlotte County as an leadership assistant at Welsh Sardine Company, the Bank of Nova Scotia and Connors Buddies.
She moved to Saint John in 1945 and worked with the law firm of Airports skycap, Ritchie & Riley before joining Irving Oil, where she had ” a long, honourable career,” the company notice states.
“Throughout the years, she always proclaimed an interest in what was happening with the business and the people of Irving Oil.”
Winnifred Irving is survived by a big extended family.
