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Charles Juravinski (November 1, 1929February 15, 2022) was a Canadian businessman and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. He was principally known as the founder and owner of the
Flamboro Downs Flamboro Downs is a half-mile harness horse racing track in Flamborough, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is also home to Flamboro Slots, which has a total of 808 slot machines. The racetrack was founded in 1971 by Charles Juravinski and acquired ...
racetrack and the co-benefactor, along with his wife Margaret, of the
Juravinski Hospital The Juravinski Hospital is a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada operated by Hamilton Health Sciences. It is located adjacent to the Juravinski Cancer Centre. The hospital was ranked 2nd in Canada for research according to Research Infosource Inc ...
and
Juravinski Cancer Centre The Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) is a comprehensive centre for cancer care and cancer research in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Operated by Hamilton Health Sciences, it is adjacent to the Juravinski Hospital, which provides emergency department fac ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
. Charles' birth name is Orest Juravinski. He changed his name to "Charles" after moving to Hamilton.


Early life

Juravinski was born in Blaine Lake,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
, on November 1, 1929. He was the youngest of four sons born to Irene and Nick Juravinski, who ran the only pool room in Blaine Lake until the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. His family eventually relocated to
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
, during his childhood, motivated by job opportunities arising from wartime industry. He polished shoes at a barbershop on Barton Street and delivered newspapers during his adolescence. Juravinski attended Cathedral High School, but he ultimately
dropped out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...
when he was sixteen. He then found employment in factories and as a mortar mixer for a bricklayer. He later ran an
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...
gas station when he was 23 years old.


Career

After saving up money from his Esso service, Juravinski was employed by Piggott Construction. He also took classes in
blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...
reading to make himself accustomed to the industry. One of his classmates, Bill McCann, teamed up with Juravinski to establish Wilchar Construction in 1958. They operated the company until McCann retired in 1971. Juravinski subsequently ran for the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination after
Ray Connell Thomas Ray Connell (December 1, 1916 – November 14, 1986) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1951 to 1971. He represented the ridings of Hamilton—Wentwo ...
, a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Hamilton, decided not to seek another term. However, he was unsuccessful and went into horse racing on the advice of Connell. Although he was counselled to construct a racetrack at the Ancaster fairgrounds, Juravinski opted to build a track from scratch in nearby
Flamborough, Ontario Flamborough is a district and former municipality in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. For most of its existence before amalgamation with Hamilton in 2001, Flamborough comprised the former townships of East Flamborough, West Flamborough, a ...
. He partnered with trucking magnate John Grant for the project, which cost C$5 million.
Flamboro Downs Flamboro Downs is a half-mile harness horse racing track in Flamborough, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is also home to Flamboro Slots, which has a total of 808 slot machines. The racetrack was founded in 1971 by Charles Juravinski and acquired ...
opened on April 9, 1975, with 6,000 people in attendance. Despite having to compete with five established tracks situated within an hour of Hamilton, Flamboro Downs proved very successful and hosted the
Confederation Cup Pace The Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup is a harness race for Standardbred pacers run annually at Flamboro Downs in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Set at a distance of one mile, it was first run in 1977 as the Confederation Cup Pace and through 2012 it ...
. Juravinski ultimately bought out Grant's stake in the racetrack, and he managed it with his wife Margaret. They were initially going to sell the track for $62 million to the
Ontario Jockey Club Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates ...
, which signed a
letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...
in 2000. However, the deal failed and they eventually sold Flamboro Downs to Magna Entertainment in June 2002 for $72 million and retired. Half a year into retirement, Juravinski and his wife began making considerable donations to the City of Hamilton and
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
, focusing on cancer and health care. This permitted the establishment of a new state-of-the-art cancer care facility at the former Henderson Hospital, now renamed the
Juravinski Hospital The Juravinski Hospital is a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada operated by Hamilton Health Sciences. It is located adjacent to the Juravinski Cancer Centre. The hospital was ranked 2nd in Canada for research according to Research Infosource Inc ...
. At first, the couple were reluctant to have the facility named after them, but they ultimately acquiesced. They later gave an endowment of $100 million in 2019 that led to the establishment of the Juravinski Research Institute (JRI), a partnership between McMaster,
Hamilton Health Sciences Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS)is a hospital network of seven hospitals and a cancer centre serving Hamilton, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of ...
and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. This was one of the largest legacy gifts made in Canada. They made their last donation together of $5.1 million to the JRI – to finance studies focused on child and youth health, integrated care and burn trauma – on
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
2022, a day before his death.


Personal life

Juravinski married Margaret at the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Church in 1956. They had met after being introduced by McCann (who was dating Margaret's sister Kate), and they remained married for 66 years until his death. They did not have children. Juravinski died in his sleep on the evening of February 15, 2022, at St. Joseph's Villa in
Dundas, Ontario : ''For the county in eastern Ontario see Dundas County, Ontario. For the upper tier county, see United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.'' Dundas is a community and town in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is nicknamed the ''Valley Town' ...
. He was 92 years old, and he had suffered from declining mobility and sight prior to his death.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Juravinski, Charles 1929 births 2022 deaths Businesspeople from Ontario Businesspeople from Saskatchewan Canadian businesspeople in retailing Canadian construction businesspeople Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian philanthropists Canadian members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church People from Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan People from Dundas, Ontario