Canada’s KFC steward a ‘shrewd operator’
Toronto man who drove expansion ‘top of the pack,’ ‘classy,’ ‘down-to-earth’
Even though the presidents of McDonald’s Canada and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Canadian operations were good friends in the 1970s and 1980s, they never talked shop. When they got together for lunch, they didn’t go to each other’s restaurants and they never talked about food.
Instead, they discussed their common interest in giving back to the community.
“He was a great guy, classy, nice,” said George Cohon, president of McDonald’s Canada from 1971 to 1992, of his Kentucky Fried Chicken counterpart, Jack Leon. Compared with other company leaders, Leon was “top of the pack,” Cohon said.
The friendship was based on mutual respect, said Cohon. The big things they had in common were charitable work and strong family values.
Leon died on Feb. 20 at 94, from complications suffered as a result of a fall in January.
“Leon is a disarmingly down-toearth character especially when he is attired . . . in a Colonel Sanders-style black string bow tie,” cites a 1979 story in the Montreal Gazette. “But he’s generally regarded as a shrewd operator.”
Leon was the president of Torontobased Scott’s Restaurants Co. Ltd. when his company bought its first KFC franchise in 1961.
Under Leon’s watch, Scott’s became the largest KFC franchisee in Canada, owning and operating about 400 restaurants at its peak. Leon was a strategic leader, the driving force behind KFC’s expansion in Canada, said Terrence Donnelly, who bought his first KFC franchise in 1964, eventually owning 55 franchises in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.
“He had a charm about him,” said Ralph Cooper, who worked with Leon for 20 years. He was able to see the potential in
“Every one of these problems has been addressed.”
JACK LEON
TWO YEARS AFTER HE BEGAN OVERHAUL OF MAJOR CHALLENGES IN THE 1980S AT 700 KFC OUTLETS IN CANADA
people, Cooper said.
To Leon, “everyone had the same importance whether you were a senior person or a part-time cook,” said John Shepherd. Hired by Leon in 1969 to work as a cashier, Shepherd rose through the ranks to become assistant vice-president of human resources at Scott’s. Leon left Scott’s in the early1980s to become president of Kentucky Fried Chicken Ltd., the franchisor overseeing about 700 KFCs in Canada.
At that time, the company had some major challenges to overcome. KFC’s 1982 business plan had identified at least a dozen problem areas that needed fixing, including “poor physical image,” “outdated packaging,” and “inconsistent product quality.”
Two years later, Leon declared that “every one of these problems has been addressed.”
Leon retired from KFC in 1987 and spent his retirement years golfing and playing bridge. He lived independently almost until the end. While in hospital during his last week, he didn’t want to hang on, said his son Brian.
“I’ve had a good life,” he told his son. “Just let me go.”
He leaves behind his second wife, Shirley, three children, three stepchildren, 15 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His first wife, Helen, died in 1976.