Jack Bickell

John Paris "Jack" Bickell (September 26, 1884 – August 22, 1951) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and sports team owner. 
 
==Early life and mining==
Born in Molesworth, Ontario, near Listowel, and raised in Toronto, Bickell started his own brokerage firm at the age of 23 and made his fortune as a mining executive, serving as president and later chairman of McIntyre Porcupine Mines Ltd. in Timmins. He held that position until his death. His work in mining earned him a place in the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
==Involvement in sports==
Jack came into the hockey business when the Toronto Arenas went bankrupt and Charlie Querrie needed financial reorganization to ice a team in Toronto. The Toronto St. Patricks were formed and won a Stanley Cup in 1922. When Querrie sold his share of the team in February 1927 to a group headed by Conn Smythe, Bickell kept his stake in the team, which was renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs. With Smythe, Bickell helped construct Maple Leaf Gardens for the Leafs in 1931. He was made the first president of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. and also served as chairman. Bickell served as a director of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball club, joining the board in 1931. That year, he also built a mansion, adjacent to the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club, in Port Credit, Ontario where he would live for the rest of his life. His name is on the Stanley Cup 6 times 1932, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951. He was not included on the cup with 1942 Toronto, because he was serving overseas the whole year during World War II.
Bickell died in New York City in 1951 at age 66 and was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto. Bickell willed the bulk of his $14.6 million estate to the creation of the John Paris Bickell Foundation. It donates half of its income each year to the Hospital for Sick Children. In 1953, the Toronto Maple Leafs established the J. P. Bickell Memorial Award. Bickell was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1978.
==External links==
*
*Picture of John Bickell's Name on the 1945 Stanley Cup Plaque
*Picture of John Bickell's Name on the 1951 Stanley Cup Plaque
Category:Born in 1884
Category:Dead in 1951
Category:Hockey Hall of Fame
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs
Category:Stanley Cup champions
Category:Team Owners