Industry veteran Les Cruickshank, who was inducted last week into the Ontario Road Building Hall of Fame, bought his first grader in the early 1950s to work on the St. Lawrence Seaway project.
TORONTO
Industry veteran Les Cruickshank, who was inducted last week into the Ontario Road Building Hall of Fame, bought his first grader in the early 1950s to work on the St. Lawrence Seaway project.
As lore has it, Cruickshank drove that grader from Paris down to Morrisburg at 22 miles per hour. He stopped for lunch along the way — and graded the restaurant parking lot to pay for his tomato sandwich.
“While the story grows each time it’s told, most of it is true,” Cruickshank told the 80th annual convention of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA). “But I did get $2 as well as my lunch.”
Cruickshank, the sixth inductee in the hall of fame, was born in Quebec in 1930. He set up Cruickshank Construction Ltd. in 1956 after stints at McNamara Construction and Ontario Hydro.
He built his company from a one-man operation to an employer of more than 300.
While Cruickshank officially retired in 1999, he continues to be actively involved in the company’s management and operations. His son Steve now runs the company.
Its motto is “we do our level best.”
Active in association circles for years, Cruickshank served as ORBA president in 1992. He is also a past president of the Construction Safety Association of Ontario.
“Les is well known as a vocal spokesman for the roadbuilding industry,” said incoming ORBA president Regan Cox.
“The pressure he brought to bear on politicians to complete Highway 416 to Ottawa became so insistent, they finally had to build the highway.”
A past president of the Morrisburg Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Lion’s Club for more than 50 years, Cruickshank has also left “an indelible mark” on the community, Cox said.
He sits on his church and hospital boards and is a past member of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission.
The company he founded is “a huge supporter” of local sports and community fundraising projects. It built, and donated, an outdoor amphitheatre for the advancement of arts and sports to Morrisburg.
Cruickshank Construction joined ORBA in 1965.
Prior to that, Les’s roadbuilder father Percy was a fixture at ORBA conventions from the mid-1930s onwards, except when he worked on defence projects during the Second World War.
“I think I can quite proudly say that a Cruickshank has attended ORBA conventions from 1935 to the present with the exception of the war years. And Steve has three boys, so the future looks good.”
Cruickshank told Daily Commercial News it was “quite an honour” to be inducted into the hall of fame, which was inaugurated last year.
His wife Marlene and daughters Laurie and Lynn attended his inauguration as did his son Steve, now the company president.
“When I first attended the conventions, I was known as Percy’s son,” Cruickshank quipped. “Then I became known as Les Cruickshank. Now, when I meet someone new, they say, ‘Oh, you’re Steve’s father.’
“So, I’m slipping back into oblivion.”
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed