Riddell leaves ‘immeasurable’ legacy
Flames co-owner was successful businessman, avid philanthropist
Clayton Riddell, one of the owners of the NHL’s Calgary Flames and a philanthropic mainstay, has died.
The 81-year-old businessman, who was the founder and chairman of Paramount Resources, died Saturday with his family by his side following a short illness, the company said in a statement Sunday evening.
“He was an incredible man with so many accomplishments,” said Riddell’s son, Jim, Paramount’s chief executive. “He will be dearly missed.” Riddell joined the Flames organization in 2003. His death leaves Alvin Libin, Murray Edwards, Jeffrey McCaig and Allan Markin as surviving owners of the club.
In a statement, Ken King, vicechairman and CEO of the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp., said Riddell’s involvement with the Flames came at a critical time for the team, and that he has been an integral part of its ownership group.
“We mourn the passing of a great man of industry, sports, philanthropy and human decency along with our city, province and country. His legacies to all of us are immeasurable,” King said.
“To his family, our gratitude, respect and deepest sympathy.”
Riddell is the second owner of the team to die this year. In June, one-time team co-owner Sonia Scurfield died at age 89. She was the only Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup, following the Flames’ 1989 championship.
Markin, the former chairman of Canadian Natural Resources, said he first came to know Riddell in 2004. He called his death “devastating.”
“He was probably the most humble, dignified man I knew,” he said. “He was just an amazing man.”
Mayor Naheed Nenshi called Riddell “a titan of our community.”
“Calgarians feel his legacy now, and we will feel it for many years to come,” Nenshi said on Twitter.
Riddell graduated from the University of Manitoba with honours with a bachelor of science degree, and went on to make his mark in Canada’s oilpatch as a geologist.
The creator of 10 energy companies, he was once listed by Forbes magazine as the nation’s 12thwealthiest man.
He remained a team owner and philanthropist — particularly to Canadian universities — despite losing what Forbes says was $1 billion in the oil price crash of 2014.
Veteran oilman Jim Gray, who cofounded Canadian Hunter Exploration, said he first met Riddell several decades ago and later became friends with him and his family.
He said that despite his success, Riddell remained humble and shied away from the limelight.
“He had very little or no ego,” Gray said. “He was very quiet, almost a Type B personality, extremely determined. Once he got into something, he was very resolute and very determined and steadfast.”
Gray also described Riddell as a thoughtful and highly respected person, and “a great community guy.”
“He did a lot of things in a quiet, unassuming and anonymous way in the community,” he said. “He didn’t have to get credit and see his name up in lights. He was just one of these very quiet, strong individuals.”
As a businessman, Riddell was visionary, tough and brave, Gray added.
“He was a big-time entrepreneur and he started with very little and was able to build a real empire out of that,” he said.
Greg Stringham, former vicepresident of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said Riddell was a leader in the industry, someone who understood where the oilpatch needed to go and was willing to bring people together to get there.
In 1993, Riddell served as one of the first chairs of CAPP and was integral in pulling the association together in the early 1990s, Stringham said.
“He was a really kind man who cared about people, but from an industry perceptive he really was one of the founding fathers of the modern oil and gas industries here in Canada,” Stringham recalled.
Riddell also had the ability to “look well into the future,” he noted.
“More than just being able to see where the industry needed to go, he was never afraid to put his feet down and start going there,” Stringham said.
Veteran Calgary investment banker Mike Tims, the former chairman of Peters & Co. and now vice-chair of Matco Investments Ltd., first met Riddell in the 1980s and said he was one of the real builders of the Canadian energy industry.
“He was risk-taking, entrepreneurial ... a kind of pioneer of the Canadian oil and gas industry. There aren’t so many of them anymore,” Tims said.
W. Brett Wilson, former managing director and chairman of FirstEnergy Capital Corp., began working with Riddell in the 1990s and said the oilman stood out not only as a successful businessman but a dedicated philanthropist and father.
“Clay was just class through and through,” he said. “The first compelling word (about him) is integrity. I had a lot of dealings with him that were on a handshake. You knew his word was good.”
In business, Riddell was “gifted,” but Wilson said he had many other interests and concerns, from sports to improving his community.
In 2013, Riddell played a key role in creating the Shaw Charity Classic event at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, symbolizing his generosity and love for Calgary.
“We just wanted to do something for Calgary,” Riddell, the tournament chairman, said at the time.
“We have a lot of first-class events here. As you know, we have the Stampede, Spruce Meadows, the Calgary Flames, which I know a little bit about. Stampeders also. This is a great golf city . ... To be able to bring a tournament like this of this quality with known stars just seemed like the right thing to do.”
His philanthropy and leadership qualities earned him accolades, including being named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. He received an honorary doctor of science degree from University of Manitoba in 2004, an honorary doctor of laws degree from Carleton University in 2014 and an honorary degree from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in 2017.
For Wilson, Riddell’s legacy, above his business and philanthropic achievements, is family.
“It was very rare that I saw him not in the presence of one of his kids,” he recalled. “And that I admired.”