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- (Research):WEDNESDAY, May 3, 2000
Jack Weber was leading Industrialist
By Steve Comm
RECORD STAFF
John G. (Jack) Weber, who spent most of his life building C.N. Weber Ltd. into a force in Kitchener-Waterloo business circles, died Tuesday. He was 68 and died of a heart attack, according to his family.
Weber, who went to work in the family business when he was only 16, spent 25 years as president of the Weber, Group of Companies. At the time of his death, he was still involved heavily with the hardware and building equipment distributorship which his daughter, Wendy Buder, said was a "life love."
"It was a challenge and a game to him, something he was very proud of," Buder said of her father, who was chairman of the board of Weber Supply Compa- Weber ny Inc. and Weber Construction Products Group Inc.
He was also chairman of the board of the Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada and, despite some health concerns, presided over the company's annual meeting just last week.
Those who knew him best said they were not surprised, for there was a quiet toughness to Weber. Along with his wife, Shirley, Weber raised three children and later, doted on seven grandchildren.
"He was very much a family-oriented man," said Buder, who remembers her father as a patient man who delighted in looking after his grandchildren during sleep-overs
Well known in municipal circles, Weber once chaired the Kitchener Planning Committee and the Waterloo County Area Planning Board. He was also a past president of the Rotary Club, of Kitchener
An active fundraiser, Weber was a key player in the Grand River Hospital Campaign, the; Lutherwood Child and Family Foundation and the North Waterloo Society for Crippled Children, among other agencies.
His life was sprinkled heavily with honours, including the City of Kitchener Award of Merit and the Ontario Outstanding Business AchievementAward.
While business consumed much of Weber's time, Buder said her father liked to cottage in Muskoka and spend time golfing in Florida.
But Weber, who grew up on Queen's, Boulevard and graduated from Kitchener Collegiate Institute, never strayed too far from the family'nest.
He will be remembered Friday during a 2 Am. funeral service at the Benton Street Baptist Church.
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