Herbert Earl Joudrie (27 March 1934 – 29 November 2006) was a Canadian businessman who served as chairman of Algoma Steel, Gulf Canada, and Canadian Tire. Joudrie began his career in 1957 with Pacific Petroleums, and in 1959 moved to Calgary to join the United Producing Company. In 1970 he was appointed president of Ashland Oil Canada, which had taken over United, and in 1974 was elected chairman. In 1977 he moved to Kentucky to become vice-president of the parent company, Ashland Oil. Joudrie returned to Calgary in 1979 to become president of Voyager Petroleums, the oil and gas arm of Nu-West. He left the company in 1985 to join Dome Petroleum as president of its subsidiary Dome Canada, which in 1986 was renamed Encor Energy. By the 1990s, Joudie had become a major figure in Canadian business. He received the chairmanships of Algoma Steel in 1991, Gulf Canada in 1993, and Canadian Tire in 1994.
On 21 January 1995, after meeting at her home in Calgary to discuss their divorce, Joudrie's wife Dorothy shot him seven times. Joudrie survived the shooting, and the case became a national sensation. In May 1996, Dorothy was found not criminally responsible on the grounds of automatism and served five months in a mental institution. Following the verdict, Joudrie relinquished the chairmanship of Canadian Tire, but remained chairman of Gulf Canada through 2001 and Algoma through 2002. He retired as a director of Canadian Tire in 2005. Joudrie died on 29 November 2006 at age 72.
Biography
Early life and family, 1934–1957 Herbert Earl Joudrie was born on 27 March 1934 in Edmonton to Herbert Norman "Herb" Joudrie (1900–1992) and Doris Shimek (1907–1981). The Joudries originated in Doubs, and descended from Jacques Urbain Joudrey (1723–1784), who had come to Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century. Herb was born in Nova Scotia and came to Saskatchewan to farm. In 1922 he married Mabel Margaret Wright (1900–1931), with whom he had two daughters, Norma and Lillian. After Mabel's death from pneumonia in 1931, Herb left his two daughters with their grandparents and moved to Edmonton to try to find work. In 1934, he remarried to Doris, with whom he had Earl in 1934 and later a second son, Keith Bryant Joudrie (1937–2011).
Doris, who was a school teacher, made Earl learn violin and Keith learn piano. Herb was a strict disciplinarian, and after Earl missed curfew one night, the latter decided to leave home. Aged 14, Earl moved in with friends in his South Edmonton neighbourhood. Earl attended Westglen High School. At Westglen, Earl, age 16, met Dorothy Day Jonason (1935–2002), who was a year younger than him, and began dating. After graduation in 1952, Joudrie entered the University of Alberta, where he studied history and economics. Dorothy followed him to the university and studied English and home economics. During university, Earl played violin with the Edmonton Symphony to make extra money and worked in mines and oil fields in Northern Alberta in the summers. Earl graduated in May 1956, and Dorothy graduated the following year. Earl entered law school at the University of Alberta in the fall of 1956 but dropped out after the first term and joined Pacific Petroleums as a landman in Fort St. John in early 1957.
Marriage and Ashland, 1957–1979 On Christmas Eve 1954, Earl and Dorothy were engaged. The wedding took place on 17 August 1957 at Metropolitan United Church in Edmonton."Dorothy Jonason, bride," Edmonton Journal, (20 August 1957), 16. After the wedding, the couple settled in Fort St. John. In 1959, the Joudries moved to Calgary where Earl took a job with the United Producing Company and Dorothy taught English at Viscount Bennett High School. After failed attempts to have children, in 1961 they adopted a son, Neale, at birth. In 1963, Dorothy gave birth to a daughter, Carolyn, and they had sons Colin in 1968 and Guy in 1970.
At some point in the 1960s, United Producers was acquired by Ashland Oil. Subsequently, Joudrie became Canadian divisional manager for Ashland, and president of Canadian Ashland Exploration Limited. Further, Joudrie was elected a director of Canadian Gridoil Limited, which was controlled by Calgary's Nickle family. In Calgary, the Joudries were active community members. In 1966 Earl was elected president of the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association,"Treatment of mental illness held future role for doctors," Calgary Herald, (4 March 1966), 31. while Dorothy was treasurer of the University Women's Club of Calgary."Membership increase seen by University Women's Club," Calgary Herald, (11 May 1965), 24. In 1968, the Joudries built a house at 6907 Lamont Court in Lakeview Village.
On 4 September 1970, Ashland merged all its Canadian properties, including Canadian Gridoil, into a new company called Ashland Oil Canada Limited. Upon the formation of Ashland Canada, Joudrie was appointed president, and Samuel Clarence Nickle Sr. was elected chairman."Appointments," Calgary Herald, (17 October 1970), 11. In 1971, Joudrie was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and given six months to live. He underwent an aggressive experimental treatment at the Stanford University Medical Center with two other patients, both of whom died. After he returned to health, he moved his family, as well as the Ashland Canada executive offices, to Toronto. There, the Joudries lived at 12 Royal Oak Drive in North York. In November 1974, Joudrie was elected chairman, succeeding Arloe W. Mayne, who had taken the post after Nickle's death in 1971. Joudie was succeeded as president by Vernon Van Sant Jr."Around the oil patch," Calgary Herald, (14 November 1974), 18.
In early 1977, Joudrie accepted of senior vice-president and group operating officer of the parent company, and as such, moved his family to Ashland, Kentucky. While with Ashland, the Joudrie's lived in the exclusive Bellefonte neighbourhood. He remained chairman of Ashland Canada, and the executive offices of the Canadian arm returned to Calgary from Toronto."Ashland office returns to Calgary," Calgary Herald, (21 January 1977), 32.
Nu-West and Dome Canada, 1979–1989 In February 1979, following the acquisition of Ashland Canada by Kaiser Resources of Vancouver, Joudrie left Ashland and returned to Calgary to become president of Voyager Petroleums Limited, which was controlled by Nu-West. Joudrie succeeded Sydney Kahanoff, who became chairman."Business beat," Calgary Herald, (2 February 1979), B10. In December 1981, Joudrie succeeded Ralph Scurfield as president of Nu-West, while Scurfield became chairman."Nu-West appointments," Calgary Herald, (3 December 1981), C4. In August 1982, he was elected to the board of Canadian Utilities Limited."Market perspective: Canadian Utilities," Globe and Mail, (11 August 1982), B14. In July 1984, the struggling Nu-West sold the assets of Voyager Petroleums to Freeport-McMoran Inc. of New York and Transco Energy Co. of Houston."Nu-West oil and gas assets to be sold," Financial Times, (23 July 1984), 14.
In December 1984, Joudrie was elected a director of Dome Canada Limited.Gordon Jaremko, "Petroleum industry finds spot for favourite son," Calgary Herald, (9 December 1984), A9. Dome Canada had been formed in 1981 as a Canadian operating subsidiary of Dome Petroleum in the wake of the National Energy Program. In March 1985, Dome Canada announced that Joudrie would assume the presidency on 1 April, succeeding J. Louis Lebel. Joudrie left Nu-West on 31 March, though he remained a director."Company news: Dome Canada," Globe and Mail, (22 March 1985), B2. In May 1986, Dome Canada changed its name to Encor Energy Corp."A Dome by any other name..." Toronto Star, (30 May 1986), E7. In December 1987, Encor was acquired by TransCanada Pipelines."Encor directors approve higher TransCanada offer," Globe and Mail, (10 December 1987), B14. Following the takeover, Joudrie became head of TransCanada's oil and gas resources,"TransCanada PipeLines executive appointment," Globe and Mail, (14 April 1988), B9. but left the company in 1988. That September, he was elected chairman of the Public Policy Forum.Vern Simaluk, "Chamber seeking new manager," Calgary Herald, (16 September 1988), E1.
Meanwhile, Earl and Dorothy's marriage had deteriorated. In October 1989, Earl separated from her.Bob Beaty and Rick Mofina, "Memory wiped out," Calgary Herald, (27 April 1996), A1.
Corporate titan, 1990–1995 At the start of the 1990s, Joudrie's career reached its pinnacle. In February 1990, Joudrie became chairman and chief executive officer of American Eagle Petroleums."Company news: American Eagle," Globe and Mail, (6 February 1990), B13. In August 1990, he was elected a director of Canadian Tire."Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited," Globe and Mail, (23 August 1990), B4. On 31 July 1991, Algoma Steel elected Joudrie its new chairman. That same day, Joudrie resigned as president of American Eagle Petroleums. Joudrie was brought in to save the insolvent steel manufacturer and to restructure its $800 million of debt.Marian Stinson, "Joudrie to head Algoma Veteran facing salvage operation," Globe and Mail, (1 August 1991), B7. In an interview following the appointment, Joudrie said, "there will be a plan of some kind. Because of the situation in Sault Ste. Marie it is important for the community and the government and everyone else. Anything that starts to look like shutting down Algoma or throwing it into bankruptcy is not tolerable."Susan Smith, " 'We can find a way to save Algoma,' " Financial Post, (3 August 1991), 1. In February 1993, Joudrie was elected to the board of Gulf Canada,Rick Haliechuk, "Gulf posts $302 million loss for '92," Toronto Star, (19 February 1993), C7. and that July, he was elected chairman of the board.Laurie Ward, "Gulf Canada makes Joudrie chairman," Financial Post, (6 July 1993), 3. In February 1994, Canadian Tire announced that at its annual meeting in May, Hugh Leopold Macaulay would step down as chairman, and that it intended to elect Joudrie as his replacement.Oscar Rojo, "Joudrie to succeed Macaulay as Canadian Tire chairman," Toronto Star, (8 February 1994), B7. Joudrie was now chairman of three of Canada's most prominent corporations. By the spring of 1994, Joudrie had turned the formerly bankrupt Algoma into one of the country's greatest business success stories.Alistair Dow, "Algoma stock a wild success story," Toronto Star, (19 March 1994), C2.
Attempted murder and trial, 1995–1996 In the early 1990s, Joudrie had appointed Lynne Manning to the board of the Public Policy Forum. Manning, who was from Edmonton and was the daughter of a cousin of Dorothy's, had three teenage daughters and in 1987 had divorced her husband. That year, she moved to Toronto, where she became district manager for Kelly Services.Paula Todd, "Summer job market a hot one," Toronto Star, (9 June 1987), A6. Joudrie and Manning became involved romantically, and in 1993 began living together.