Robert Young "R.Y." Eaton (1875–1956) was a Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Eaton family. He was a nephew of

Timothy Eaton Timothy Eaton (March 1834 – 31 January 1907) was an Irish businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history. Early life and family He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ...

, the founder of Eaton's department store.

Life and career

He was born in 1875 to John and Margaret (née Herbison) Eaton. He was related to the Eaton's department store founder, as they shared the same grandfather, John Eaton Sr (1784–1834). He took over control of the department stores when his cousin

Sir John Craig Eaton Sir John Craig Eaton (April 28, 1876 – March 30, 1922) was a Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Eaton family. Life and career He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the youngest son of department store magnate Timothy Eaton and hi ...

died of pneumonia in 1922. Sir John's children were too young to run the company, so he filled in until one of the children reached an appropriate age to take over. He proved to be an extremely capable president, and he expanded the company tenfold. His cousin-in-law, Lady Eaton, the widow of Sir John, never liked him. Throughout her life, she always referred to her branch of the family as the "owner Eatons" and his branch as the "worker Eatons". Lady Eaton's son,

John David Eaton John David Eaton (4 October 1909 – 4 August 1973) was a Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Eaton family. He was the second son of Sir John Craig Eaton and Lady Eaton of Toronto, Ontario. He was married to Signy Stefansson, a ...

, eventually took over the presidency of the company at the age of 33, and R.Y. Eaton retired from business life. He had a resort home, Ireton, built in

Port Credit, Ontario Port Credit is a neighbourhood in the south-central part of the City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located at the mouth of the Credit River on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its main intersection is Hurontario Street and Lakeshore Road, ...

, and later in

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

. He also served as president of the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...

from 1924 to 1941.

Marriage and children

He married Hazel Ireland (1889–1965) and had 5 children. His son John Wallace Eaton (1912–1990) worked at Eaton's and ran the Montreal store. His son Captain Erskine Robert Eaton (1915–1942) graduated from the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

in 1934. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he was a member of the staff at Eaton's Montreal store. He died in the Dieppe Raid on August 19, 1942, at 27 years of age. His name is listed on the Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College of Canada.https://archive.org/details/chstandrewscolle1942stanuoft St. Andrew's College Review, Christmas 1942

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Robert Young Robert Young Eaton Canadian businesspeople in retailing Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent 1956 deaths 1875 births