SAINT JOHN, New Brunswick (AP) — Arthur L. Irving, the son of one of Canada's richest men and industrialists, K.C. Irving, has died at age 93 after devoting his life to growing the oil business his father founded.
Irving Oil said in a statement that he died Monday surrounded by his wife, Sandra, and daughter, Sarah.
Forbes magazine named Arthur Irving one of the top 10 richest Canadians for 2023. At the time of his death, Irving had an estimated net worth of $6.4 billion, which included Canada's largest refinery in New Brunswick and the Whitegate refinery in Ireland.
Born in 1930, Irving attended Acadia University in Nova Scotia before joining Irving Oil in 1951, where he worked alongside his father and two brothers.
“I had the choice between going to Acadia University or learning business from the best teacher I've ever had anywhere, my dad,” he told author Donald Savoy in his 2020 book about Irving Oil. “I chose the best teacher.”
He became president of the company in 1972 and served as chairman emeritus until his death.
His death comes as the company's Saint John refinery is undergoing a “strategic review” to determine its future as climate change leads some countries to shift away from fossil fuels.
Although biographers have credited Irving with success in expanding the company, his life was also plagued by family troubles, including a bitter divorce from his first wife in 1980 and, more recently, an estrangement from his eldest son.
In his 2014 book “Irving v. Irving,” journalist Jacques Poitras describes a poignant scene in August 2013, when Irving stood at a press conference in Saint John to announce that his company was formally opening a bid, ultimately unsuccessfully, to build a pipeline to carry crude oil from Alberta to his family's refineries.
Poitras noticed the absence of his “son and successor,” Kenneth, after he left the company following disagreements in 2010. “In his octogenarian years, Arthur was surrounded by admirers yet lonely. His refineries loomed in the background…But his family was falling apart,” Poitras wrote.
Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Arthur Irving's business life and interests were closely intertwined with those of his two brothers, JK and Jack, as they held primary responsibility for different sectors of the business empire their father had built: the trucking company ran on the company's refined gasoline, the forestry and shipping businesses used Irving's construction subsidiary, and the newspaper chain bought newsprint from a nearby mill.
In late 2009, the three Irving brothers split up, with Arthur taking over running the energy business.
In a statement, the company described Irving as a unique “unwavering advocate for Atlantic Canada and its people.”
“In this immeasurable loss, we know there will never be another like him again,” the statement said.
