Philanthropist wasn’t flamboyant
Blackwoods founder gave humbly and often anonymously
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/10/2010 (5532 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Winnipeg philanthropist and leader of the city’s Jewish community whom the Free Press once dubbed “Winnipeg’s mystery millionaire” has died.
Gerry Gray, 80, who made his fortune as owner of Blackwoods Beverages on Ellice Avenue, a bottling company for Pepsi-Cola Canada Ltd., died on Friday.
Gray was the second-largest donor to the Asper Jewish Community Campus, and Gray Academy, the complex’s K-12 school, is named after him.
One of his last acts of philanthropy was to donate $1 million towards the makeover of Central Park in downtown Winnipeg. The park is a meeting place for recent immigrants and low-income Winnipeggers who live in the area.
Gray, who was a founder of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, also contributed $1 million to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
“The entire city of Winnipeg is very saddened by his passing,” said Marsha Cowan, CEO of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. “He was a giant in the community but a very soft and gentle man. Very kind.”
The mystery to Gray was he didn’t seek attention for himself.
“I would say he led by example. He wasn’t flamboyant. He never sought attention for himself. He tried to avoid attention,” said Bob Freedman, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.
Freedman believes Gray also donated anonymously. “In Jewish tradition, those who give anonymously… that’s a real blessing and Gerry believed in that,” he said.
He also put up $10 million in an effort with other Winnipeg millionaires to try to keep the Winnipeg Jets from leaving.
Gray was born on Jarvis Avenue in the North End. His uncle, M.A. Gray, was the first Jewish member of the Manitoba legislature. His father died when Gerry was still a teenager and Gerry dropped out of school at age 16. “He was a self-made man,” said Freedman.
Gray lived in a condominium in Tuxedo and spent winters in Palm Beach, Fla. He is survived by two daughters and a son.
He was preparing to go out for dinner with his two daughters on Friday when he collapsed. Paramedics couldn’t resuscitate him.
He had cancer but was receiving treatments. Friends who saw him the same week said he was looking good and was active. His funeral was Wednesday.
“I don’t think anyone expected him to pass this suddenly,” said Freedman.
Blackwoods was the distribution and bottling centre for such soft drink products as Pepsi, Seven-up, Crush, Hires, Quench, Nestea, and Schweppes ginger ale.
Gray sold Blackwoods for an “astronomical” price years ago, according to Free Press news clippings.
bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca