Notice Board

The University of Lethbridge expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Arthur (Art) Crooks, who passed away on Thursday, April 16, at the age of 86.

Art and his wife, Mary Jane, moved from Ontario to Lethbridge in 1979 to open the city’s first Canadian Tire Store. They became ardent community supporters and benefactors to many organizations, both in Lethbridge and elsewhere.

At ULethbridge, the Crooks donated $2 million to establish the Evelyn Hamilton Chair in Liberal Education in honour of Art’s mother. Thanks to a generous $1-million endowment from Art and his family, the Crooks Work-Integrated Learning Program in Liberal Education was established to provide opportunities for students to analyze and apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom in a real-world setting. The program provides paid internships for up to five students a year to work on research, teaching or community projects.

Art attended Amherst College in Massachusetts and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1961. He pursued a Master’s of Business Administration at the then-University of Western Ontario, now Western University. Following graduation, Art took a job in sales and quickly rose through the ranks to become a regional and then national sales manager.

In 1971, when he was 30, Art interviewed for a Canadian Tire franchise and was approved to purchase his first store in Blenheim, Ont. As the couple worked to establish the business, Art and Mary Jane did the jobs of three people to save money on a salary. While Art placed orders, worked at the parts counter, unloaded trucks and stocked the store, Mary Jane did the books. Profits were modest in the beginning, but they persisted. A year later, they purchased the Pembroke store in the Ottawa Valley and, in 1979, they jumped at the chance to open the first store in Lethbridge. The business succeeded and grew, as did their family of three children.

This notice will be updated as more information becomes available.