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Peter John Aldred
October 7, 1944 - March 7, 2016
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<div itemprop="description">ALDRED, PETER JOHN<br />October 7, 1944 &ndash; March 7, 2016<br /><br />It is with sadness that we announce the passing of John Aldred on March 7th in Calgary. He was a man of vision who lived an extraordinary life, full of business, philanthropic and family achievements.<br />John is survived by his loving wife, Cheryl, of nearly 26 years, and his children Jennifer, Jessica, and Ryan along with his favorite sibling, Michael, and his 11 grandchildren.<br />Born in England, John immigrated to Canada and arrived in Winnipeg in 1967 at the age of 23 with just over $400 in his pocket. His first job in Winnipeg was as a mechanic's helper. In 1968 John moved to Calgary, challenged his heavy duty mechanics licence at SAIT, and worked as a field serviceman for Midwestern Compressor. In 1971 he moved to PAMCO Ltd., the subsidiary of an American parent, and became its President four years later.<br />In 1980 John left PAMCO to establish Enerflex, a business focused on the Canadian rental compression market. John&rsquo;s ambition and determination was instrumental in the development of Enerflex &ndash; which grew from a small facility in Calgary to a global leader in the natural gas compression and processing market which had over $1.62 billion in annual revenue in 2015 and over 2,300 employees operating in 17 countries.<br />Named a Calgary Business Hall of Fame Laureate in 2011, John nurtured a strong passion for oilfield history, education and technical training. He served as a leader and advisor on a number of major projects at SAIT &mdash; as co-chair of the Promising Futures&trade; Campaign in support of the Trades and Technology Complex, Vice-Chair of SAIT's Board of Governors (2001-2006), and as a chair of the Invest in Technology fundraising campaign (2001-2006). <br />John was a past member of the Board of Directors for Careers: The Next Generation and Alberta Junior Achievement. Past Awards include the Alberta Centennial Medal, the Pinnacle Award, and an Honorary Bachelor of Applied Technology SAIT. He was inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Calgary Petroleum Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2015, SAIT President and CEO Dr. David Ross initiated the President&rsquo;s Cornerstone Award to be bestowed upon an individual who has made a transformational impact to SAIT and the community. John was rightly the first recipient of the award. John also founded the Cadmus Foundation, which was established to provide support towards furthering of the trades and education.<br />In the spring of 2012, John and his wife Cheryl presented SAIT&rsquo;s Promising Futures&trade; Campaign with a $15 million donation, the single largest personal philanthropic donation ever made to a Canadian college or polytechnic organization. To recognize the donation, SAIT named the largest of the three buildings in its Trades and Technology Complex after the Aldred family. The distinctive wave-roofed Aldred Centre is now a familiar site, bordering the northern edge of the SAIT campus.<br />John lived a life full of adventure and travel. He had a passion for speed, largely in the form of motorbikes. Over the past 15 years his favorite rides included the Alps, Tuscany, Italy, Southern France, Spain and South Africa. Sadly in September 2013 John had to give up the joy of motorcycling.<br />John passed away after a long and hard fought struggle with prostate cancer. His family would like to give a special heartfelt thank you to Dr. Kim N Chi, Vancouver Prostate Centre, and Dr. Doug Caine, Helios Wellness Centre. A very special thank you Leah Tschritter-Pawluk, Sonia Cutts, John&rsquo;s favorite nurse, Becky Gordon, and our neighbor, Nancy Westmore, without them we would never have been able to care for John in his final month. A Celebration of John&rsquo;s life will be held at the Aldred Centre bordering the northern edge of the SAIT campus on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers please consider a contribution to the Cadmus Teaching Chair program at SAIT, a program John started to support teaching excellence within the trades. Donations can be mailed and payable to SAIT Polytechnic 1301 16th Avenue NW, Calgary, AB T2M 0L4 or made online at sait.ca by searching Ways to Give.</div>