Memorable Manitobans: Gregory Richard “Greg” Purchase (1931-2002)

Business executive.

He received a BSc degree from the University of Manitoba (1953) and an MBA degree from the University of Western Ontario (1956). He returned to Winnipeg to join the executive team of the T. Eaton Company where he rose to the position of Vice-President (Western Stores) in 1974. He relocated to Toronto in the 1980s when he became Executive Vice-President (Toronto and Ontario Stores). By the late 1980s, he was the company’s Chief Operating Officer. He resigned in 1991 due to poor health and later wrote about his experiences at Eatons in a self-published book entitled “Hard Rock Merchandising.” On 16 August 1957, he married Dorothy Kristjanson at Winnipeg. He died at Toronto, Ontario on 20 November 2002.

Sources:

“Trousseau tea fetes Dorothy Kristjanson,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 August 1957, page 12.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 26 November 2002.

Gregory Richard Purchase, The Nauticapedia.

We thank James Arnett for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 November 2016

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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