Lawyer, entrepreneur, philanthropist.
Born at Winnipeg in 1923, son of William John Charne and Stephanie Gladys Charne, his youth was spent at Minnedosa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta and then, in 1949, from the Manitoba Law School. He was a lawyer with Aronovitch and Leipsic, specializing in corporate and real-estate law. In 1968, he was appointed a Queen’s Counsel.
In 1970, he became Vice-President of St. Maurice Capital Corporation and President of St. Maurice’s real-estate development subsidiary, St. Maurice Properties Limited. The following year, St. Maurice Properties was renamed Commerce Capital Properties Limited, where he assisted in developing and managing shopping centres. In 1978, he purchased Commerce Capital Properties and renamed the company First Commercial Management, forming the largest privately-owned commercial property management and development company in western Canada. He also served as director and Vice-President of Eaton Bay Financial Services. In 2003, he sold First Commercial Management but shortly thereafter reincorporated Commerce Capital Properties and reacquired ownership and management of two shopping centres.
He was an honorary member of the Law Society of Manitoba, a fifty-year member of the Winnipeg Real Estate Board, and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centres. He was also an associate of the Faculty of Management at the University of Manitoba and a member of the Winnipeg Winter Club and St. Charles Country Club. His most recent project was helping create the Thaddeus Charne Arthroplasty Research Fund at the Concordia Hospital Foundation in Winnipeg. In 1950, he married Claire Theresa Pacholek (?-?) with whom he had three children. He served on the church and finance committee of St. Mary’s Cathedral, was a director and member of the executive committee of the central region of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, and was a charter member and President of the Sierra Club of Winnipeg, as well as a member of the Winnipeg Knights of Columbus Council 1107. In 1978, he travelled to Guatemala as part of Omni Child International. He had an active interest in the construction and establishment of St. John Brebeuf Church parish, church and school. He was instrumental in the relocation of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School from Westgate to Tuxedo.
He died at Winnipeg on 14 November 2004.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 04 December 2004.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 30 March 2024
Memorable Manitobans
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