Former Canadian Tire dealer John Hill celebrates his 90th birthday

John Hill of Kincardine (above, with his dog, "Sparky") says he feels about the same today as he did when he turned 70 years old, but his birth certificate says he marked his 90^th birthday Wednesday.

Born Feb. 8, 1927, in the west end of Toronto, Hill completed his schooling there, including business administration and retail courses at Western Technical Commercial School and the University of Toronto.

He joined the navy in 1944 and served in the North Atlantic until 1946. While he never saw battle in the Second World War, he certainly saw enough rough weather. “You don't want to be sailing the North Atlantic in the winter time,” he said.

Hill began his retail career, managing various discount stores, for the Right Way chain and the Gem chain. He then moved to Sault Ste. Marie where he managed a Sentry store.

While there, he heard that Canadian Tire was looking for some good people to run its stores so he completed his training with that company and then arrived in Kincardine in 1971 to take over the store on Queen Street (in the south end of what is now the Bruce Inn).

His wife, Barbara, moved with him. They both grew up in the west end of Toronto and were married in 1952.

He purchased the Canadian Tire in Kincardine from Harold Thompson. And the first person to greet him was Harvey Palmateer who had the local hardware store, located where HuronTel is now. Ironically, Palmateer recognized Hill because they both went to King George High School in Toronto.

When Hill first took over the downtown store, it had all wooden fixtures so he had to install metal fixtures.

“We did well at that little store,” he recalled. “It had a two-bay service garage at the back.”

In 1973, Canadian Tire had a new store built in the Sutton Park Plaza and Hill moved the operation out there.

He said the larger store opened up a lot of opportunities, with more parking available, and a four-bay garage to service more vehicles.

In the 1970s, business was excellent, said Hill, but the 1980s were a real struggle due to high interest rates.

“But I thoroughly enjoyed the retail business,” he said. “I liked meeting all the people. Unfortunately, it was during the time of high interest rates that we had to buy and install a lot of computer equipment.”

Hill retired in 1987, at the age of 60, just as he had planned. The Canadian Tire store changed hands four or five times until the current dealer, John Satosek, purchased it and he now owns and operates an even larger store just east of Highway 21.

“The difficulty for retail store owners back then was that Ontario Hydro (now Bruce Power) was paying high wages so it was hard to keep good workers,” said Hill. “Then, the Bruce Heavy Water Plant closed (and part of Bruce A in the 1990s) and all of a sudden there were all these empty homes.”

Over the years, Hill has seen a lot of changes in retail, the biggest one being the arrival of credit cards.

“When I grew up, you saved in order to purchase something,” he said. “Now, people just put everything on credit and pay for it later. It's not good for people. They should save for things they want to buy.”

He said people's wages have increased over the years, but now it takes two people working to afford to buy a house.

As for cars, there are too many gadgets in today's vehicles, he said, which means way too many distractions.

Another major change was the arrival of computers, said Hill. “We had them in the store and I hired a high school kid to sell them. We mainly used them, ourselves, for inventory. I now use a laptop.”



John Hill of Kincardine with a photo of his 1960 Studebaker Hawk, at Cruise Night in Kincardine; photo courtesy of the Hill family

Besides his lengthy career in retail, Hill has belonged to the Kincardine Legion for almost 50 years, and he is a classic car enthusiast. He is the proud owner of a 1960 Studebaker Hawk and a 1988 Jaguar which he enjoys taking to local car shows as long as it's not raining.



John Hill with his 1960 Studebaker Hawk; photo courtesy of the Hill family

He and Barbara had seven children. “Well, I wanted three and she wanted four, so we had seven,” jokes Hill:
 

• Jim Hill and his wife, Lil, live in Delhi; he is an electrician.
• Doug Hill and his wife, Karen, live in Barrrie; he is a lawyer.
• Donna and her husband Mark Neyvatte, live in Guelph; she is a retired nurse.
• Marjorie and her husband, Bob Reid, live in Belle Ewert (near Innisfil); she is a yoga teacher
• Carol and her husband, Bob Gray, live in Southampton; she retired from working for the Town of Saugeen Shores, and he works at Bruce Power.
• Ellen Guyler lives in London and is an accountant.
• Ron Hill and his wife, Sandy, live in Kincardine; he is a semi-retired mechanic and they both work at Lakeside Chevrolet Buick GMC in Kincardine.

Hill and his wife enjoyed retirement, travelling to Florida where he took in a lot of golfing. He said they went to New York on their honeymoon, and had planned to go again on their 60^th wedding anniversary; however, they were married only 59 years when Barbara died in 2011.

An avid fisherman and hunter, Hill used to volunteer with the Kincardine Fish Hatchery. He has travelled across Canada, visited all the capital cities and fished and hunted in most of them.

He has struggled with health issues over the years, the most recent being two heart operations, one in 2015 and again in 2016.

But he carries on, enjoying his morning coffee every day with his buddies at McDonald's Restaurant in Kincardine; looking after his dog, “Sparky;” playing the stock-market; watching his favourite show, “The Big Bang Theory;” watching the NBC News at 6:30 p.m. every day; and reading a lot of books.

So, how does it feel to be 90?

“I don't feel any different than when I was 70,” said Hill. “I'm just slowing down a bit.”

And what's his advice to people who want to live a long life?

“The minute you feel sick or you need an operation, get to the doctor right away,” said Hill. He also credits his family for helping him through some tough patches, and every year, they hold a family golf weekend at one of the children's homes.

Besides his seven children, his family includes 17 grandchildren (two are deceased); 10 great-grandchildren, with another one on the way; and one great, great-granddaughter.

The family is holding a come-and-go tea in honour of Hill's 90^th birthday, Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3-5 p.m., at the Bruce Steakhouse, 750 Queen Street, Kincardine.

Come Celebrate a Classic!



John Hill (in back, wearing hat) and his family at the annual golfing weekend; photo courtesy of the Hill family



John Hill with his 1988 Jaguar; photo courtesy of the Hill family