Max Bell
Encyclopedia
George Maxwell "Max" Bell (October 13, 1912 – July 19, 1972) was a Canadian
newspaper publisher, race horse owner and philanthropist. He was best known as the co-founder of FP Publications, Canada's largest newspaper syndicate in the 1960s. He built his newspaper empire after inheriting the Calgary Albertan, and its $500,000 debt, from his father in 1936. He repaid debt by 1945 and proceeded to purchase papers across the country, including the Ottawa Citizen
and the Globe and Mail. Much of Bell's fortune was built on Alberta's burgeoning oil and gas industry. He formed several companies in the late 1940s that came to be worth millions of dollars when sold.
Bell was a long time owner of thoroughbred
race horses. He partnered with Frank McMahon
to form two stables that won races across Canada, the United States and Europe. The pair joined with singer Bing Crosby
to win the Irish Derby in 1965 while he and McMahon won the 1968 Queen's Plate
. Bell was a part owner of several race tracks, including Balmoral Park
, of which he became the first Canadian president. A noted philanthropist, he established the Max Bell Foundation shortly before his death, which has awarded millions of dollars in grants for medical, veterinary, sporting and educational causes.
. He was the son of George Melrose Bell and Edna Mae Parkin and had one brother, Gordon and two sisters, Audrey and Olive. His grandfather, George Alexander Bell, was a Canadian pioneer and Liberal
minister in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
. His father earned his fortune selling insurance and owned several newspapers and periodicals before losing much of his wealth investing in mining and oil.
Bell earned a degree in commerce from Montreal's McGill University
during the Great Depression
while working for his father at the Calgary Albertan newspaper during his summers. After graduating in 1932, Bell moved to British Columbia where he unsuccessfully attempted to prospect for gold in the Kootenays
for a time and played two seasons of senior hockey with the Kimberley Dynamiters
. He met and married his first wife, Suzanne Staples, during this time and in 1935 returned to Calgary. He returned to the Albertan, earning $35 per week as the classified advertising manager. Bell inherited the paper upon his father's death in 1936, however the Albertan was under the control of the Royal Bank of Canada
against $500,000 in loans that the elder Bell had made.
Additionally, Bell invested in an oil well
near Turner Valley, Alberta
. When the well struck oil in mid 1936, the income from his one percent share was double that of his newspaper salary.
. However, Bell lacked the capital to support the paper that was strife with labour difficulties and old equipment that required replacing. He made the decision to fold the paper in 1951.
While he worked to regain control of the Albertan, Bell also continued to invest in oil ventures. He partnered with Frank McMahon
and others in forming Empire Petroleum Limited in 1944, an unsuccessful attempt a raising enough capital to drill a wildcat well. Two years later he tried again with two new companies, Reef Petroleum and Tower Petroleum. The two companies also failed to find oil, but the efforts raised enough money for Bell and his partners to form Calvan Petroleums on the heels of Imperial Oil
's discovery of a large oil field at Redwater, Alberta
. The company found success trading in leases and drilling rights on crown land
, prompting Bell to form several other oil companies in the years that followed. In 1951, Bell amalgamated his various companies into Calvan Consolidated Ltd. The new company held an interest in 77 wells at the Redwater field. He sold Calvan to Petrofina
in 1955 for $40 million, and while he continued to trade in oil and gas companies for several years, his focus returned to the newspaper business.
Bell purchased the Victoria Times in 1959 for $750,000, and one year later built a plant to print both the Times and The Colonist, which he gained control of in 1953 for $1 million. In 1954, Bell acquired a controlling interest in the Lethbridge Herald
. He had a habit of appearing unannounced at the offices of his papers, often to chat with the editors, but never told them what to print. Bell continued to acquire newspapers, joining with Victor Sifton, owner of the Winnipeg Free Press
to purchase the Ottawa Citizen
in 1959. The pair combined their interests to form FP (Federated Paper) Publications Ltd. that same year. Bell purchased the Vancouver Sun in 1963, and Toronto's Globe and Mail in 1965, making FP Publications Canada's largest newspaper syndicate. By 1972, the papers had a combined circulation of over 820,000.
Among acquisitions made outside the newspaper industry, Bell led a group that attempted to gain control of the Hudson's Bay Company
in 1950. The bid was thought to have been motivated by the land and mineral rights that the company controlled, but was thwarted by company bylaws that prevented the transfer of such rights. It was later suggested that Bell backed out of the deal in the belief that the company would struggle to adapt to his ideas. By 1965, Bell was the largest single shareholder in Canadian Pacific Railway
(CPR).
In addition to serving as a director for the CPR, Bell was also director for the Bank of Nova Scotia
, was a member of the board of governors at McGill and was a senior director of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede
.
horse racing
enthusiast, Bell met future jockey Johnny Longden
as a young man in Calgary, and later bought a horse from Longden, Mac Aurelius, whose victory in a Regina claiming race fueled Bell's interest in the sport. He invested in several ranches and was at least part-owner in three race tracks, including Balmoral Park
, where he was the track's first Canadian president.
Bell partnered with Frank McMahon
to form Golden West Farms
near Okotoks, Alberta
, and the pair joined with Vance Longden
and Wilder Ripley in 1952 to form Alberta Ranches, Ltd.
, which raced in California. The stables won numerous races throughout North America, as well as England and Ireland. Among Bell and McMahon's biggest successes was Four-and-Twenty
, whose victories included the 1961 Santa Anita Derby
, and the Hollywood Derby
.
Among his biggest victories, Bell won the 1965 Irish Derby with the colt Meadow Court
, whom he had sold one-third shares of ownership to McMahon and Bing Crosby
just prior to the race. Meadow Court then won two more races before being retired to stud following the season. The horse, purchased by Bell for $9,000 won over $280,000 in purses before being sold for over $1.2 million. He and McMahon won the 1968 Queen's Plate
with Merger
.
Max Bell was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
in 1977.
and a ranch in Okotoks.
An ardent member of the Presbyterian Church
, Bell was said to have read the Bible
as often as his weekly horse racing forms. He neither drank nor smoked, and was a generous donor to his church. He enjoyed playing golf
and badminton
, and frequently sailed his yacht, Campana, throughout the area around Vancouver Island and used it to ferry politicians and businessmen to a special forum on Canadian-American relations which he organized in 1959. Bell was a supporter of organized sport at several levels and helped finance the Vancouver Canucks
' entry into the National Hockey League
.
Bell fell ill to a neurological illness in 1967 that resulted in numerous surgeries over the following five years. He died on July 19, 1972, at the Montreal Neurological Institute
. Shortly before his death, he created the Max Bell Foundation and funded it with $17 million of FP Publications stock. Within 30 years, the foundation's assets had grown to $55 million in addition to over $65 million distributed as part of 200 grants across the nation. Thirty percent of the grants go to McGill University, half to the Faculty of Medicine specifically, while the foundation focuses its grants on health care, veterinary medicine and education. Capital grants have also helped to fund several facilities throughout western Canada, including Calgary's Max Bell Centre
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
newspaper publisher, race horse owner and philanthropist. He was best known as the co-founder of FP Publications, Canada's largest newspaper syndicate in the 1960s. He built his newspaper empire after inheriting the Calgary Albertan, and its $500,000 debt, from his father in 1936. He repaid debt by 1945 and proceeded to purchase papers across the country, including the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
and the Globe and Mail. Much of Bell's fortune was built on Alberta's burgeoning oil and gas industry. He formed several companies in the late 1940s that came to be worth millions of dollars when sold.
Bell was a long time owner of thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horses. He partnered with Frank McMahon
Frank M. McMahon
Frank Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder and first chairman of Westcoast Transmission Co. Ltd...
to form two stables that won races across Canada, the United States and Europe. The pair joined with singer Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
to win the Irish Derby in 1965 while he and McMahon won the 1968 Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
. Bell was a part owner of several race tracks, including Balmoral Park
Balmoral Park
Balmoral Park is a horse racing track located just south of Crete, Illinois, United States. The track hosts harness racing for most of the year except for a brief period in January when the track is dark.-History:1925...
, of which he became the first Canadian president. A noted philanthropist, he established the Max Bell Foundation shortly before his death, which has awarded millions of dollars in grants for medical, veterinary, sporting and educational causes.
Early life
Bell was born October 13, 1912 in Regina, SaskatchewanRegina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
. He was the son of George Melrose Bell and Edna Mae Parkin and had one brother, Gordon and two sisters, Audrey and Olive. His grandfather, George Alexander Bell, was a Canadian pioneer and Liberal
Saskatchewan Liberal Party
The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.-Early history :The party dominated Saskatchewan politics for the province's first forty years providing six of the first seven Premiers, and being in power for all but five of the years between the...
minister in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
The 25th Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan was in power from 2003 until November 20, 2007. It was controlled by the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party under premier Lorne Calvert.-Members:-By-elections:...
. His father earned his fortune selling insurance and owned several newspapers and periodicals before losing much of his wealth investing in mining and oil.
Bell earned a degree in commerce from Montreal's McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
while working for his father at the Calgary Albertan newspaper during his summers. After graduating in 1932, Bell moved to British Columbia where he unsuccessfully attempted to prospect for gold in the Kootenays
Kootenays
The Kootenay Region comprises the southeastern portion of British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa First Nation first encountered by explorer David Thompson.-Boundaries:The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land...
for a time and played two seasons of senior hockey with the Kimberley Dynamiters
Kimberley Dynamiters (WKHL)
The Kimberley Dynamiters are a defunct Senior Amateur ice hockey club that played prior to World War II in the West Kootenay Hockey League . In 1936 the Kimberley Dynamiters won the Allan Cup, defeating the Sudbury Falcons in the best of 3 final series with a score of 2 games to 0...
. He met and married his first wife, Suzanne Staples, during this time and in 1935 returned to Calgary. He returned to the Albertan, earning $35 per week as the classified advertising manager. Bell inherited the paper upon his father's death in 1936, however the Albertan was under the control of the Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...
against $500,000 in loans that the elder Bell had made.
Additionally, Bell invested in an oil well
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
near Turner Valley, Alberta
Turner Valley, Alberta
Turner Valley is a town in Alberta, Canada. It is located southwest of Calgary.Situated on Highway 22 , the town was once the centre of an oil and natural gas boom. For 30 years, the Turner Valley Oilfields was a major supplier of oil and gas and the largest producer in the British Empire, but is...
. When the well struck oil in mid 1936, the income from his one percent share was double that of his newspaper salary.
Newspaper career
Despite the oil strike, Bell continued to work for the Royal Bank at the Albertan. After seven years of what he called "clerking", he made a bid to regain his family's control of the paper. He convinced five friends in the oil and gas industry to form the Essex Company and put up $35,000 to operate the paper. He then convinced the Royal Bank to give him control, and in mid-1943, was made publisher of the Albertan. Under Bell's leadership, the paper returned to profitability, prompting the partners in Essex to raise his salary to $85 per week. Within three years, Bell was able to repay both his parners in Essex and purchase full control of the paper from the bank. Almost immediately after repaying his partners, Bell convinced them to purchase the Edmonton BulletinEdmonton Bulletin
The Edmonton Bulletin was a newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta published from 1880 until January 20, 1951. It was founded by Frank Oliver, a politician and future minister in the Canadian Government....
. However, Bell lacked the capital to support the paper that was strife with labour difficulties and old equipment that required replacing. He made the decision to fold the paper in 1951.
While he worked to regain control of the Albertan, Bell also continued to invest in oil ventures. He partnered with Frank McMahon
Frank M. McMahon
Frank Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder and first chairman of Westcoast Transmission Co. Ltd...
and others in forming Empire Petroleum Limited in 1944, an unsuccessful attempt a raising enough capital to drill a wildcat well. Two years later he tried again with two new companies, Reef Petroleum and Tower Petroleum. The two companies also failed to find oil, but the efforts raised enough money for Bell and his partners to form Calvan Petroleums on the heels of Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil Limited is Canada's largest petroleum company. The company is engaged in the exploration, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas. It is controlled by US based ExxonMobil, which owns 69.6% of its stock...
's discovery of a large oil field at Redwater, Alberta
Redwater, Alberta
Redwater is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of Edmonton on Highway 38, in Sturgeon County. Its population, as of 2006, was 2,192.Redwater is placed in the federal riding of Westlock—St...
. The company found success trading in leases and drilling rights on crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
, prompting Bell to form several other oil companies in the years that followed. In 1951, Bell amalgamated his various companies into Calvan Consolidated Ltd. The new company held an interest in 77 wells at the Redwater field. He sold Calvan to Petrofina
Petrofina
Petrofina was a Belgian oil company which merged with Total in 1999 to form TotalFina, but the name has now been changed back to Total after another merger...
in 1955 for $40 million, and while he continued to trade in oil and gas companies for several years, his focus returned to the newspaper business.
Bell purchased the Victoria Times in 1959 for $750,000, and one year later built a plant to print both the Times and The Colonist, which he gained control of in 1953 for $1 million. In 1954, Bell acquired a controlling interest in the Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge Herald is the leading paper in the Lethbridge, Alberta area, with an average weekday circulation of 18,185 in the six-month period ending March 31, 2007. This local paper has been serving southern Alberta since 1905....
. He had a habit of appearing unannounced at the offices of his papers, often to chat with the editors, but never told them what to print. Bell continued to acquire newspapers, joining with Victor Sifton, owner of the Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1872, as the Manitoba Free Press, it is the oldest newspaper in western Canada. It is the newspaper with the largest readership in the province....
to purchase the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
in 1959. The pair combined their interests to form FP (Federated Paper) Publications Ltd. that same year. Bell purchased the Vancouver Sun in 1963, and Toronto's Globe and Mail in 1965, making FP Publications Canada's largest newspaper syndicate. By 1972, the papers had a combined circulation of over 820,000.
Among acquisitions made outside the newspaper industry, Bell led a group that attempted to gain control of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in 1950. The bid was thought to have been motivated by the land and mineral rights that the company controlled, but was thwarted by company bylaws that prevented the transfer of such rights. It was later suggested that Bell backed out of the deal in the belief that the company would struggle to adapt to his ideas. By 1965, Bell was the largest single shareholder in Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR).
In addition to serving as a director for the CPR, Bell was also director for the Bank of Nova Scotia
Scotiabank
The Bank of Nova Scotia , commonly known as Scotiabank , is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization. It serves some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world and offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial,...
, was a member of the board of governors at McGill and was a senior director of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede
Calgary Stampede
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway,...
.
Thoroughbred horse racing
A longtime thoroughbredThoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
enthusiast, Bell met future jockey Johnny Longden
Johnny Longden
John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England but his father wanted to build a better life for his family so in 1909 emigrated to Canada, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912 Longden Sr. had saved enough money to send for his wife and young son...
as a young man in Calgary, and later bought a horse from Longden, Mac Aurelius, whose victory in a Regina claiming race fueled Bell's interest in the sport. He invested in several ranches and was at least part-owner in three race tracks, including Balmoral Park
Balmoral Park
Balmoral Park is a horse racing track located just south of Crete, Illinois, United States. The track hosts harness racing for most of the year except for a brief period in January when the track is dark.-History:1925...
, where he was the track's first Canadian president.
Bell partnered with Frank McMahon
Frank M. McMahon
Frank Murray Patrick McMahon was a Canadian businessman best known as the founder and first chairman of Westcoast Transmission Co. Ltd...
to form Golden West Farms
Golden West Farms
Golden West Farms was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm at Okotoks, Alberta owned by Frank McMahon and Max Bell.Both partners were successful businessmen who invested in Thoroughbred racehorses. Frank McMahon most notably owned U.S. Racing Hall of Fame colt Majestic...
near Okotoks, Alberta
Okotoks, Alberta
Okotoks is a town situated on the Sheep River, south of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The town is a member of the Calgary Regional Partnership, a cooperative of communities within the Calgary Region. Okotoks has become a popular bedroom community for the City of Calgary...
, and the pair joined with Vance Longden
Vance Longden
Vance Longden was an American Thoroughbred horse trainer based in California.Vance Longden was the son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden and his first wife, Helen. He was raised around horses and apprenticed with trainer William Molter...
and Wilder Ripley in 1952 to form Alberta Ranches, Ltd.
Alberta Ranches, Ltd.
Alberta Ranches, Ltd. was a Thoroughbred horse racing partnership between U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey and Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Johnny Longden, his son Vance, and businessmen and Frank McMahon, Wilder H. Ripley, and Max Bell. The three men were all longtime friends from the Province of...
, which raced in California. The stables won numerous races throughout North America, as well as England and Ireland. Among Bell and McMahon's biggest successes was Four-and-Twenty
Four-and-Twenty
Four-and-Twenty was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was red and raced by the Alberta Ranches, Ltd. partnership of Max Bell, Frank McMahon and superstar jockey Johnny Longden and his son, Vance. He was sired by a son of the two-time Leading sire in North America, Princequillo...
, whose victories included the 1961 Santa Anita Derby
Santa Anita Derby
The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $1 million. Inaugurated in 1935, it is considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby...
, and the Hollywood Derby
Hollywood Derby
The Hollywood Derby is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. The race is open to horses, age three willing to race a mile and a quarter on turf. It currently offers a purse of ...
.
Among his biggest victories, Bell won the 1965 Irish Derby with the colt Meadow Court
Meadow Court
Meadow Court was a British Thoroughbred racehorse.-Background:He was bred by the American heiress Elisabeth Ireland Poe who owned Shawnee Farm in Harrodsburg, Kentucky as well as a racing and breeding operation in Ireland. Meadow Court was sired by Court Harwell, and out of the mare Meadow Music...
, whom he had sold one-third shares of ownership to McMahon and Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
just prior to the race. Meadow Court then won two more races before being retired to stud following the season. The horse, purchased by Bell for $9,000 won over $280,000 in purses before being sold for over $1.2 million. He and McMahon won the 1968 Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
with Merger
Merger (horse)
Merger is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1968 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious horse race....
.
Max Bell was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....
in 1977.
Personal life
Bell's marriage to Suzanne ended in 1949. The couple had four children: sons Chester (died 1970) and Paul, and daughters Diane and Gretchen. He later married Frank McMahon's daughter-in-law Agnes, who was widowed when her husband Frank Jr. was killed in an automobile accident in 1953. The family maintained a winter home in Palm Desert, CaliforniaPalm Desert, California
Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census, up from 41,155 at the 2000 census...
and a ranch in Okotoks.
An ardent member of the Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
, Bell was said to have read the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as often as his weekly horse racing forms. He neither drank nor smoked, and was a generous donor to his church. He enjoyed playing golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, and frequently sailed his yacht, Campana, throughout the area around Vancouver Island and used it to ferry politicians and businessmen to a special forum on Canadian-American relations which he organized in 1959. Bell was a supporter of organized sport at several levels and helped finance the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
' entry into the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
.
Bell fell ill to a neurological illness in 1967 that resulted in numerous surgeries over the following five years. He died on July 19, 1972, at the Montreal Neurological Institute
Montreal Neurological Institute
The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital is an academic medical centre dedicated to neuroscience research, training and clinical care. The Institute is part of McGill University and the Hospital is one of the five teaching hospitals of the McGill University Health Centre, in Montreal,...
. Shortly before his death, he created the Max Bell Foundation and funded it with $17 million of FP Publications stock. Within 30 years, the foundation's assets had grown to $55 million in addition to over $65 million distributed as part of 200 grants across the nation. Thirty percent of the grants go to McGill University, half to the Faculty of Medicine specifically, while the foundation focuses its grants on health care, veterinary medicine and education. Capital grants have also helped to fund several facilities throughout western Canada, including Calgary's Max Bell Centre
Max Bell Centre
The Max Bell Centre is an ice hockey arena, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in the community of Radisson Heights. It seats 2,121, for hockey, with a standing room capacity of over 3,000...
.
External links
- Max Bell Foundation biography
- George Maxwell Bell at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...