Businessman.
Born at Winnipeg on 26 January 1928, son of Wilbur Herman Pollard and Aleta Jean Scarlett (1899-1983, daughter of Robert A. Scarlett), brother of Earle B. Pollard, he joined his father’s commercial printing firm Saults and Pollard in 1947, becoming its President in 1962, and grew the business as Pollard Banknote (as of 1976) into lottery tickets. The firm eventually had five plants around North America employing 1,100 people and producing 12 billion tickets annually. He was President of the company (1960-1997), then Chairman, and finally Chairman Emeritus.
Around 1957, he married Frances “Fran” Struthers (daughter of Ruth Struthers) and they had three sons and two daughters. He was a member of the St. Charles Country Club. He served as President of Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (1972-1973) and Manitoba Club (1993). He was an advisory board member for The Winnipeg Foundation (1992-2006), Salvation Army, CancerCare Manitoba, Winnipeg Humane Society, Children’s Museum, Winpak, Gendis, Grain Insurance and Guarantee, Greater Winnipeg Gas Company, Montreal Trust, and Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club (1974).
He was a Progressive Conservative candidate for the Crescentwood constituency in the 1973 provincial general election but, following a recount, he tied with Harvey Patterson and was defeated by the tie-breaking vote of the returning officer. He did not run again in a subsequent by-election. He was inducted into the Manitoba Manufacturers Hall of Fame (2008) and Manitoba Business Hall of Fame (2014).
He died at the St. Boniface Hospital on 4 January 2019.
“Printer’s gamble on lottery tickets paid off handsomely” by Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 2019, page B4.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 12 January 2019.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 June 2024
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