Frank H. Sobey

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Frank H. Sobey O.C. (1902 – December 15, 1985) was a Canadian businessman who was the primary builder of the Sobeys Stores chain.

Born in Lyons Brook, Nova Scotia, he was three years old when his family moved to the town of Stellarton where his father operated a meat retailing business, peddling meat products door to door on a horse-drawn wagon. In an era where education opportunities were limited in small Maritime towns, Frank Sobey left school after Grade 8. However, he had an entrepreneurial mindset and at age sixteen enrolled in a business college. Frank Sobey convinced his father to add produce to the meat business and that marked the beginning of the creation of the second largest retail food distribution company in Canada. In 1947 he opened the region's first "Cash and Carry" store, which was an immediate success.

Through Empire Co. Ltd., a family holding company, Frank Sobey also built a chain of movie theaters and substantial real estate holdings. In 1971, while still remaining active in the business, he handed over formal control of the company's operations to his three sons, David, Donald and William Sobey.

Frank Sobey received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the University named its Faculty of Commerce in his honor. In 1985 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

[edit] Sobey Foundation

In 1982 Frank Sobey endowed the Sobey Foundation to provide funding for important initiatives that have a positive and long-lasting impact in health, in educational or for communities. The "Frank H. Sobey Awards in Business Studies" annually provides $10,000 to assist full-time business students from any Atlantic Canadian university. Saint Mary's University named its commerce program the Sobey School of Business after Frank H. Sobey.

[edit] Sobey Art Foundation

Frank Sobey and his wife Irene acquired a significant art collection that included works by notable Group of Seven members Cornelius Krieghoff, Tom Thomson, A. Y. Jackson, and Arthur Lismer. His collection today can be seen at "Abercrombie House", his former residence in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The Sobey Art Foundation was established in 1985 with a mandate to maintain and add to the collection. The Foundation's Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for a young Canadian artist. It is awarded every two years to an artist 39 years of age or younger who has exhibited their work in a public or commercial art gallery in Canada during the previous 18 months. The winner of the award receives $50,000 and the runner-up $15,000.

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