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One of Canada’s most successful business people, W. Galen Weston, LLD'08, the patriarch of the Loblaw food empire, has passed away at the age of 80.

Both Weston and his wife, Hilary Weston, received honorary degrees from Queen’s in May of 2008 and spoke to graduating commerce students during convocation at Grant Hall. 

In the early 1970s, Weston was asked by his father to take over the Loblaw grocery chain at a time when the business was struggling. He turned the company around and managed to build an empire. He soon took over George Weston Co., a company that controlled several food and bakery brands, as well as real estate holdings.

Queen’s alumnus and former RBC CEO Gord Nixon, Com’79, LLD’03, told the Toronto Star that Weston was “a retail visionary” who turned around a struggling company by creating in-house brands such as President’s Choice.

“He really was an innovator. No one was really doing in-house brands before Loblaws did,” Nixon told the Star.