WINNIPEG – Businessman Robert Chipman, patriarch of the Winnipeg hockey Chipmans, died on Monday.
Chipman, who was 87, was a longtime Winnipeg booster who left his mark in philanthropic work as well as the city’s business community.
The Chipman family company Megill-Stephenson Co. Ltd. is the parent company of the Birchwood Automotive Group, which Robert Chipman founded, the Stevenson Group and Longboat Development Corp., among other companies. Longboat is developing the property on Portage Avenue across from the MTS Centre.
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His son Mark is now president of Megill-Stephenson and is the chairman of True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Winnipeg Jets and the MTS Centre. His son Jeoffrey is the president and CEO of the Stevenson Group. His son Stephen is president of the Birchwood Automotive Group. His daughter, Susan Millican, is a broadcaster.
“Mr. Chipman will be remembered as a pillar upon which many of the principles of our organization are founded, including family, honesty, integrity and hard work,” a statement from True North Sports and Entertainment said.
Robert Chipman also gave time and money to Winnipeg organizations including United Way of Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Foundation and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, among others.
He was inducted into the Winnipeg Citizens Hall of Fame in 2007.
A graduate of St. Paul’s High, Chipman was honoured with a tribute dinner at the school in 2006.
“The winners in the world are those that give,” he said at the dinner. “This is our city – we want to be proud of it. We all need to contribute to making it an increasingly better community.”
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