Roofing industry giant Gordon Gooder passes away

Roofing industry giant Gordon Gooder, 91, passed away Christmas Eve 2010, with Ruth, his wife of 66 years, by his side.In 1947, he founded Semple Gooder Roofing Limited after starting in the roofing industry in 1937 as a stenographer for Tim Bothwell.From humble beginnings, he built a life which would allow him recently to donate $1 million to the Trillium Health Centre and $1.2 million to the Runnymede Health Centre.

“He would look at you and say, ‘This guy has some kind of intrinsic quality and I am going to hire him.’ He had the ability to see that quality, take it, mould it and impart his message,” said Gordon Sproule of Sproule Specialty Roofing.

Gooder, 91, passed away Christmas Eve 2010, with Ruth, his wife of 66 years, by his side.

He was born on March 21, 1920 and lived in Etobicoke for 65 years.

In 1947, he founded Semple Gooder Roofing Limited after starting in the roofing industry in 1937 as a stenographer for Tim Bothwell.

From humble beginnings, he built a life which would allow him recently to donate $1 million to the Trillium Health Centre and $1.2 million to the Runnymede Health Centre.

Sproule knew Gooder since 1972 and worked at Semple Gooder from 1978 to 1983.

Tom Shreeve, vice president, administration and estimating at Semple Gooder, started working at the company in 1981 and said that Gooder was an influential force.

“Mr. Gooder helped me to understand how to look a little higher. To look up a little bit and see what is in front of you as opposed to just taking the next step,” he said.

The legacy of Gooder’s leadership abilities extended beyond his company, he was the founding president of the Canadian Roofing Contractors Association (CRCA), the Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association and board member of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA).

In 1963 he was named Roofer of the Year by the NRCA of the United States for his efforts in establishing the CRCA.

“In one short year, by his energy and enthusiasm, in talking to contractors all over the country and travelling at his own expense to do so, he enlisted 15 per cent of the eligible Canadian contractors and the CRCA was born,” reported the Journal of Commerce in 1963.

In a letter to the Gooder family, the CRCA said that the roofing industry “was saddened to lose its leader” and that Gooder was a “visionary” whose name was the first one on the letter patent application which formed the CRCA.

Sproule noted that the CRCA was pivotal since, at the time, manufacturers and suppliers had a stranglehold on the bonding and warranting of roofs.

Gooder’s visionary leadership and drive for fairness, innovation and efficiency was evident right down to the technical aspects of the business, explained Shreeve.

Gooder was a leader in learning how to pump asphalt instead of hoisting it up in a pail or container.

“He was a pioneer of the asphalt tanker and developing a method to pump hot asphalt, at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, up to roof level, so it can be worked with, making the process more efficient, economical and safer,” said Shreeve.

Sproule recalled that Gooder would buy molasses pumps and bolt them on the back of tankers to figure out how to pump the asphalt through a “myriad of success and failures”.

“Once he figured it out, he killed the competition, but the one thing he said he would never do is patent it,” said Sproule.

“He did not patent it because if he did, he would own it and then there would be no advancement in the industry.”

In his retirement years, Gooder was still interested in Semple Gooder’s day-to-day business, enjoying a mentorship role and displaying a key leadership skill, trusting those you hire.

“One thing I always remember him saying is to get to the point in your business where you do not need your business,” said Sproule.

On rainy days, that credo was evident.

“On a rainy day, we’re full-out responding to leak calls, it is a busy day,” said Shreeve. “Mr. Gooder got to the point in his life where he would get up in the morning, see it was raining and he would go back to bed because he knew everything was looked after.”