Irving K. Barber, a titan in B.C.'s forestry sector and a well-known Canadian philanthropist, passed away quietly last week at his home in Tsawwassen.
He was 89.
To B.C.'s business community, Barber, affectionately known as Ike, was best known for founding Slocan Forest Products Ltd. in 1978.
Barber, who spent his entire professional life in the forestry sector working for past giants such as MacMillan Bloedel, founded Slocan when he was 55 and built it into one of Canada's most successful forestry companies.
Slocan was sold in 2004 to Canfor (TSX:CFP) for $650 million.
Ken Shields, CEO of Vancouver's Conifex Timber (TSX-V:CFF), was one of Slocan's founding directors and served on its board for 20 years.
"I think Ike was a terrific forest industry CEO, perhaps the best our province has ever had," Shields told Business in Vancouver. "What I admired most about Ike is that although he was real tough on the issues, he was soft and sensitive to his people.
"I also greatly respected the effort he went to remain in close contact with the Interior B.C. communities where Slocan conducted forestry and sawmilling operations. This latter characteristic of Slocan is something we have adopted and embraced at Conifex."
Although Barber found great success in the forestry sector, he is best known for his philanthropic endeavours. He held honorary degrees at the University of British Columbia (UBC), the University of Northern BC (UNBC) and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
During his life, Barber donated some $30 million to UBC to create the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the school's main campus, and the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences and Irving K. Barber Learning Centre Interface Program at UBC's Okanagan campus.
He also donated significantly to UNBC and in 2010 gave $2.5 million to Kwantlen to create the Irving K. Barber Endowment for Educational Opportunities.
"What Ike recognized in making that gift was the unique role Kwantlen can play in terms of helping people who didn't have the best opportunity for education the first time around," said Jeff Norris, Kwantlen's chief advancement officer. "He called them 'second chancers,' and he considered himself a second chancer."
Barber was born in Alberta in 1923 and dropped out of high school in Grade 11.
After five years in the Air Force during the Second World War, Barber went back to UBC and graduated as a forester in 1950.
Norris called Barber's departure a great loss for the business and philanthropic community in B.C.
"We're quite saddened," said Norris. "Ike was an amazing individual, and everyone that got the chance to meet him around Kwantlen is really quite disheartened to learn he's not with us anymore."
B.C. business magnate Jimmy Pattison, who helped engineer the deal that saw Canfor buy Slocan, said Barber was a great asset to British Columbia.
"He built a company from nothing," Pattison told BIV. "He cared a lot about our province, and he gave back a lot to help young people in British Columbia, particularly in the north. Ike Barber was one of a kind."
Barber was named to the Order of B.C. in 2003. •
