From the ground up: the life of Jack Poole

If great things can come from humble beginnings, there might be no better example than Jack Poole.

Long before his days as head of a British Columbia-based real estate empire, Poole attended a two-room school in Mortlach, Sask., while living in a house with no indoor plumbing, electricity or running water.

He was born at the end of the Great Depression, the son of a farm equipment dealer. The strapping teenager was a talented hockey player with a bright future and NHL potential.

But Poole was hit by a car at the age of 15, severely injuring his leg and ending his hockey dreams.

The following year, his high school girlfriend Marilyn Pollock became pregnant with the couple’s first child, Gwen.

By the time Marilyn was pregnant again, two years later, with their second child, Anne, the couple was married and Poole was enrolled in civil engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.

At 22, Poole was working as a trainee in the clerical department of Gulf Oil in Calgary, when he took a part-time job as a door-to-door salesman to supplement his meagre income. But Poole disliked sales, and refused to settle on a career in the field.

Home-building

The following year, Poole moved into the home-building business, an industry where he would build his career and his business empire.

He started as the head of construction at Engineered Homes in Edmonton. After seven years, he moved to Vancouver to open a west coast office. Poole had already begun work on a major contract when the company hit financial trouble and wanted him to return to Edmonton.

Having already settled with his family in Vancouver, Poole went to renowned building developer Graham Dawson with a proposal to buy out Engineered Homes’ contract and take over the business.

Dawson agreed. Together, the two formed Daon Development Corp., which would become North America’s second largest real estate and development company, employing 900 people with five offices in Canada and nine in the U.S.

But with the onset of recession in 1982 and the company heavily indebted, Daon was forced into bankruptcy protection. Poole, who had been personally worth $100 million, was broke.

As his company fell apart, so did his marriage of 33 years. He was divorced in 1983, and Poole lost his house and cars, while keeping all of his debt.

But shortly after, Poole met Darlene Young, who worked for a public relations firm, and the two were married in 1987.

Concert Properties

Around the same time, Poole was introduced to developer David Podmore. The two began working together immediately, eventually forming Concert Properties Ltd., in Vancouver.

The company became one of the largest property developers in B.C., with assets of just under $1.5 billion.

Premier Gordon Campbell was searching for someone to lead Vancouver’s Olympic bid in July 2001, and thought of Poole. Poole accepted the position at a salary of one dollar a year.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2007, and disappeared from public view. He was back at work 18 months later, but the cancer returned.

Poole died on Friday, one day after the Olympic torch was lit in Greece and began its journey to Vancouver. He was 76.