Ronald V. Joyce
Born: 1930
Place of Birth: Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
Major Notes:
In 1956, after serving a term in the Royal Canadian Navy, Ronald Joyce moved to Hamilton where he worked with the local police force.
The first Tim Horton coffee and doughnut shop opened in Hamilton in 1964 and Joyce entered into the business in 1965.
He did so by borrowing ten thousand dollars from a local credit union to cover initial costs.
Joyce became manager of the first shop and made a goal to set up another ten coffee shops.
After setting up two shops, he became a full partner in the business with Tim Horton.
His partner, the famous Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player, died in a car accident in 1974.
After Horton's death, Joyce offered to buy out Mrs. Horton's part of the business and he became sole owner of Tim Hortons.
At that time the business had expanded to 40 shops.
Much in memory of Tim Horton, a Tim Hortens Childrens Foundation was set up to help less fortunate children.
Joyce himself would pilot an airplane across Canada picking out potential sites for new Tim Hortons restaurants.
Tim Hortons and the United States food business known as Wendy's merged in 1995 through stock exchange with each still a separate entity.
In 1999, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year for both Ontario and Canada and was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
He wanted to have 2000 Tim Hortons shops by the year 2000 and, in fact, opened his 2000th store in December of that year.
Joyce announced in 2002 that he would be selling his 5.7 million shares of Wendy's.
For detailed research and more information, check out any of the following:
Wikipedia
Tim Hortons Archives
Irish Hamilton
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Last Updated: April 23, 2008
© Canada-Heros/Don Jones 2003