Maxwell Cummings, (April 19, 1898 – May 23, 2001) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

builder 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 ...

. Born in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, the son of David and Beatrice Cummings, he came to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

with his family in 1911. His siblings included Harold Cummings,

Nathan Cummings Nathan Cummings (born Komiensky; 14 October 1896 – 19 February 1985) was a Jewish-Canadian-American businessman, investor and philanthropist. He was the founder of Consolidated Foods, which later became known by one of its product lines, Sara Le ...

, and Minnie Abbey (née Cummings) In 1929, he began a career in real estate brokerage and development. He was responsible for Canada's first

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

, the

Norgate shopping centre This is a list of small shopping centres in the island of Montreal. Baie d'Urfé Plaza Baie d'Urfé Plaza Baie d'Urfé is a small strip mall located in Baie d'Urfé, Quebec, Canada on 90 Morgan Street across from Quebec Autoroute 20. The shopp ...

in Saint-Laurent (now part of Montreal) and was one of the first Canadians to develop low-cost housing. He was a prominent member of the Montreal Jewish community. His offspring include the late philanthropist and entrepreneur Jack Cummings and businessman Robert Cummings. Jack's children include Steven Cummings, who like his grandfather has received the Order of Canada, Richard Cummings, former Executive Director of Jewish Family and Child Toronto, and Nancy Cummings-Gold, former president of The PACCK Foundation and wife of Senator

Marc Gold Marc Gold (born June 30, 1950) is Canadian law professor and politician who has served as Representative of the Government in the Senate The representative of the Government in the Senate (french: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is ...

. In 1978, Maxwell Cummings was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and a Grand officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

in 1990.

References

* 1898 births 2001 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Businesspeople from Montreal Businesspeople from Saint John, New Brunswick Canadian centenarians Men centenarians Jewish Canadian philanthropists Canadian philanthropists Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec Members of the Order of Canada {{Canada-business-bio-stub