Remembering a P.E.I. entrepreneur
Jim Casey preferred a handshake to a contract and believed in giving people a shot
Jim Casey is being remembered as a strong businessman and a devoted family man.
The Charlottetown man died March 4 at the age of 83.
His son, Sean, said few people knew how dedicated his father was to his family. He married Joan Redstone in 1962 when he was 21 and she was 19. The couple has been together 61 years.
Jim took the Paderno Cookware Company, which had started in 1979, and turned into a success in 1986, Sean said.
“Mom was a big part of Dad’s success,’’ the Charlottetown MP said in an interview with Saltwire on March
6. “He didn’t know his way around a kitchen. He’d screw up a can of beans, so Mom really provided a ton of practical, quiet advice all the way, along the way.’’
Sean describes Jim as an entrepreneur in every sense of the world. He embraced risk, he was bold, wanted to be his own boss and preferred a handshake to a legal contract. Jim was ruthless when it came to dealing with the banks, but he was a man who was devoted to Joan and his family.
“At his last days by his bedside, there really was some incredible bonding between Mom and my siblings. We had spent no more than three hours together, not in consecutive days, since we were kids. There were a lot of laughs.’’
Sean said his father was the type of man who loved a drink but was not a bar guy. Jim would sit at home and put his feet up, and when he became more successful, he was extremely generous to the kids, Sean said.
Jim was also the man who rescued the Atlantic Beef Products plant in Albany, P.E.I., from facing bankruptcy.
He was also a major philanthropist, helping the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation raise money as the chair of the fundraising campaign.
Scott Chandler, Paderno’s marketing director, remembers Jim as someone who gave him a shot when no one else would.
“After I graduated high school, I realized that postsecondary education wasn’t for me and so I put 80 resumes out and they were all rejected,’’ Chandler said.
Jim hired Chandler to work at the Paderno factory in data entry. When the job ended 10 months later, Chandler made a pitch to Jim - he wanted the newly vacated marketing director's position.
“Even though I had no experience. I told Jim, ‘I don't want any more pay, but I want an opportunity’. Jim said, ‘I’ll give you six months and no more pay, and we’ll see how it goes.’’’
Chandler is still doing the job 28 years later.
“Jim really gave me an undeserved opportunity. When he sold the company a few years ago to Meyer, they kept me on as their marketing director so really no formal education, no experience and I have the job that I have. He gave me an opportunity that I’ll never forget. It put a roof over my head and food on my table. Jim taught me so much about the business world and was really fun to work with. He was almost like a father, or you felt like you were part of the Casey family.’’
Chandler ran into Jim about a month ago and heard his health was not great. He wondered if Jim would even recognize him.
“He knew who I was right away. He asked about my kids, he asked about my family. That was Jim. It was family first and then he asked about the company. Jim said they are damn lucky to have you and I replied that it was because of the things he had taught me. He will never be forgotten.’’
Sean laughs when told about the interview with Chandler.
“Dad kinda looked past the formal education and got wind of someone’s jib and gave them a shot,’’ Sean said.