Ralph Thomas Scurfield

Ralph Thomas Scurfield B.Sc (January 7, 1928 – February 18, 1985) was a Canadian businessman. He was the president and chief executive officer of Nu-West Group Limited (1957–1985), and was an original owner of the Calgary Flames. On February 18, 1985, he was killed in an avalanche while heli-skiing on Mount Duffy in the Cariboo Mountains, near Blue River, British Columbia.

Biography Scurfield was a Canadian businessman who founded one of North America’s largest home building companies, Nu-West Group Limited. In 1957, Scurfield took control of Nu-West Homes, a small, privately owned, house-building company operating in Calgary, Alberta. In 1969, Nu-West Homes Ltd. became a publicly traded company and was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. By 1981 Nu-West Group Ltd. had become the largest house-building company in Canada, with diversified asset holdings of $88.4 billion, and over 3,700 employees. of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames.

Scurfield was actively involved in the establishment of the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary. The faculty’s building, Scurfield Hall, is named in his honour. Scurfield's family also owned Sunshine Village ski resort located in Banff National Park, and a share of the Calgary Flames Hockey Club.

Early years Scurfield was born in Broadview, Saskatchewan, on January 7, 1928, the son of Ralph and Ann Scurfield (née Parsons). His family soon moved to the small farming community of Ninga, Manitoba where his father was the station master on the Canadian Pacific Railway line. Ralph was active in sports and enjoyed playing hockey and soccer as a child. Few who knew him from his rural childhood days could have imagined that the bright boy with reddish hair, who walked to the one-room school house with his pet crow on his shoulder, would grow up to become one of the most successful and influential Canadian businessmen of his generation.

Scurfield attended the University of Manitoba, working his way through school by taking summer carpentry jobs in the northern town of Churchill, Manitoba. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1948, Scurfield became an elementary school teacher. He taught in Manitoba for only two years, before leaving a promising teaching career to pursue his chosen trade of carpentry. In 1951, lured by the booming Alberta economy, he moved to Edmonton, where he quickly found employment with McConnell Homes as a crew foreman. Scurfield was soon settled in Alberta, and in July 1954 he married Sonia Onishenko, the youngest child of Ukrainian–Russian immigrant parents.

Scurfield’s employer, Ches McConnell, impressed with Scurfield’s work ethic and university degree, asked him to move 160 miles south to Calgary to manage the small, financially struggling, house building company called Nu-West Homes. Scurfield agreed, but only on the condition that he be allowed to buy in as a 1/3 partner.

Career success After mortgaging his house to finance his partnership, in 1957, at the age of 29, Scurfield became president of Nu-West Homes, a Calgary-based company building approximately 40 homes a year. When he moved to Calgary in May 1957, he found that Nu-West was in worse financial shape than he had been led to believe. With only a secretary and a bobcat driver as employees, Scurfield went to work salvaging the reputation of the near bankrupt Nu-West Homes by fixing previously built houses free of charge. By putting in long hours he was able to establish Nu-West Homes as a company of strong customer service. Nu-West quickly became known for quality housing and after-sales service. Under Scurfield’s direction, Nu-West Homes flourished, and Scurfield’s personal stature grew.

In 1969 Nu-West went public, raising 2.9 million in its initial share offering. Nu-West, which was heavily leveraged with debt, lost its place of dominance in the house building industry.

Death On February 18, 1985, Scurfield and another person died in an avalanche while heli-skiing in the Monashee Mountains near Blue River, British Columbia. The resulting court decision, (Scurfield v. Cariboo Helicopter Skiing Ltd. (1993), 74 B.C.L.R. (2d) 224) on the doctrine of contributory negligence in Canadian law, resulted in a finding that Scurfield was 75% responsible for the incident. An appeal relieved the guide of all legal responsibility.

Honours The Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award is presented each year by Calgary Flames to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and leadership on the ice, combined with dedication to community service. Various honours and places named after Scurfield include:

The Ralph T. Scurfield Award of Excellence, presented annually by Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), is the highest recognition that can be bestowed on a SAIT faculty member. The Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award, is presented annually by the Calgary Flames to the Flames player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and leadership on the ice, combined with dedication to community service. The Ralph T. Scurfield Builder of the Year Award, presented annual by the Alberta Home Builders Association, is the Alberta home building industry’s top honour (the winner is commonly referred to as "the best of the best"). Scurfield Hall Photo of Scurfield Hall, the faculty building housing the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. Scurfield Boulevard and Scurfield Park, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Scurfield Drive located in Calgary, Alberta. In 1986, Scurfield was posthumously named a recipient of the Centennial Award of Merit, awarded by the Centennial of Incorporation Committee to acknowledge Calgarians whose community service has enriched the city’s life for a period of 10 years are more. In 2005, Scurfield was selected by Alberta Venture Magazine as the 2nd Greatest Albertan of all time, , behind only the legendary Grant MacEwan. In June 2008, Ralph T. Scurfield was nominated as one of Alberta's Greatest Citizens, as part of their "Search for our Greatest Citizen Project. In 2015, Ralph T. Scurfield was posthumously inducted into the Junior Achievement - Calgary Business Hall of Fame