GA 189 : Charles E. Greb family fonds.

Charles E. Greb family fonds. - 1878, 1884-2009. - ca. 0.9 m of textual records and photographs.

Charles E. Greb (1929-2009) was a businessman and philanthropist living near Ayr, Ontario. Born in Kitchener, Greb was the youngest child of Erwin C. (1894-1954) and Clara Greb. His father and grandfather, Charles E. Greb Sr., acquired the Berlin Shoe Manufacturing Company in 1912, and in 1916 the company received a new charter and was renamed the Greb Shoe Company Limited. By the time it was sold in 1974, Greb Industries Limited had become the largest shoe manufacturer in Canada. Charles Greb began his career with the family company in 1948 as a factory worker, and went on to manage plants in Kitchener and Winnipeg. He became director of sales in 1962, and then from 1969 to 1976 he served as executive vice-president. Greb later became the CEO of Musitron Communications, which became part of Grebco Holdings Ltd., a personal investment firm. He was also director and chairman of Skyjack Inc. of Guelph, director and chairman of Virtek Vision International Inc. of Waterloo, and managing partner of Woodside Fund, a California venture capital partnership.

Greb was involved in several community organizations and initiatives, including: the National Council of YMCAs of Canada, the YMCA of Kitchener-Waterloo, the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital Foundation, the Kitchener Chamber of Commerce, the Ontario Summer Games, Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region, Junior Achievement of Canada, and CAA Ontario. He was a member of the Board of Governors of St. Paul's College (University of Waterloo) and the Board of Regents of Luther College (University of Regina), and chairman of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Board of Management and of the Kitchener Economic Development Board. He also received many awards, including the Kitchener Citizen of the Year (1978), a Province of Ontario Bicentennial Medal, an Ontario Volunteer Service gold award, a Canada 125th Anniversary medal for contributions to Canada, a Companion of the Fellowship of Honour YMCA Canada, the Lou Buckley Award - Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA, and the Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International.
Charles Greb's brothers were also involved in Greb Industries Limited. Harry D. Greb (1916-1998) joined the company as a book-keeper in 1932. Upon the death of his father in 1954, he became company president and held that position until he retired in 1974. Harry Greb was president of the Shoe Manufacturers Association of Canada, the Shoe Information Bureau, and the Shoe and Leather Council of Canada. He was also a director of the Equitable Life Insurance Company and chairman of the board of Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University), as well as a member of several organizations, including: Waterloo County Shrine Club, Kitchener Rotary Club, and Grand River and Scottish Rite Masonic Lodges. In 1971, he was honoured with an LLD degree. Harry was also an avid sailor.

Arthur C. Greb (1917-1982) joined the family company in 1935 and managed the company's entrance into the retail business with a chain of stores called "Yellow Label" based in Vancouver. This venture was short-lived and Arthur returned to Kitchener to manage the purchasing department at the Greb Shoe Company. He retired in 1974.

Clara May Greb (1921-2006), sister to Harry, Arthur, and Charles, was a philanthropist and involved in the Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA, Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region, and the endowment foundations of both of these organizations.

Charles E. Greb, Sr. (1859-1934) was a politician and businessman in Berlin/Kitchener. Born in Zurich, Ontario, he was a carpenter by trade and operated a hardware store and hotel in Zurich before moving to Berlin in 1909 with his wife Caroline and son Erwin. He was involved with the Berlin Shoe Manufacturing Company from its incorporation in 1910 as Secretary-Treasurer. When Erwin purchased the controlling interest in the Greb Shoe Company from his father in 1918, Charles remained involved with the business in an advisory capacity, and devoted more time to politics. He served as an alderman in Kitchener from 1917 to 1921, 1924 to 1927, and 1929 to 1931; and as Mayor for two terms, from 1921 to 1922.

(Source: content of the fonds; Briggs, T. and Greb, C.E., _The Greb Story_, Kitchener: Grebco Holdings Ltd., 2008; and Waterloo County Hall of Fame biographies: http://tinyurl.com/nsotv4)

Contents: fonds consists of records documenting aspects of the lives, careers, and interests of Charles E. Greb, his father Erwin C. Greb, and his grandfather Charles E. Greb Sr., as well as his siblings, Harry Greb, Clara May Greb, and Arthur Greb. Includes press clippings; correspondence; birth, marriage, and death certificates; wills; photographs; certificates and awards; ephemera; scrapbooks, and other material.

Fonds is arranged in four series:
1. Family Files
2. Charles E. Greb : Ontario Summer Games
3. Local and General History
4. Photographs

Title from content of the fonds.

Includes 33 photographs.
The extent is measured in linear metres of shelf space occupied by the fonds.
Donated in 2009.
Some material may be restricted (contains personal information).
Detailed finding aid available.
Material relating to Charles E. Greb and Greb Industries Limited can be found in GA 193, Greb Industries Limited fonds.

Series 1 : Family Files

Family files. - 1878, 1884-2009. - 17 cm. - 26 photographs : b&w and col. ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller.
Contents: series consists of records documenting aspects of the lives, careers, and interests of Charles E. Greb, Harry Greb, Clara May Greb, Erwin C. Greb, and Charles E. Greb Sr.; and the lives and disappearance of basset hounds Velvet and Jasmine. Includes press clippings; correspondence; birth, marriage, and death certificates; wills; photographs; certificates and awards; ephemera; and other material. Material probably collected and compiled by Charles E. Greb.
Series arranged alphabetically.
Some material may be restricted (contains personal information).

File 1
Greb, Charles E. - 1959, 1970-2009. - 1 photograph : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm.
Contents: file consists of material documenting the career, community involvement, and achievements of Charles E. Greb. Includes press clippings, certificates and awards, ephemera, correspondence, personal profiles and biographies, a news release, etc. Includes a letter from Ontario Premier William G. Davis and Secretary of State Walter McLean.
Original title: Chuck Greb.
Photographer: Kitchener-Waterloo Record

File 2
Greb, Charles E. : Musitron. - 1985-1989.
Contents: file consists of material relating to Musitron-Danning, a communications company in Kitchener. Charles E. Greb was the president of the company. Includes press clippings, a press release, and issues of newsletters for Musitron-Danning employees and customers, both called Newsitron. Includes Newsitron (for customers) vol. 1, no. 1-3, vol. 2, no. 1, 3, and 4; and Newsitron (employee newsletter) issues 1, 3, 4, and 6-19.
Original title: Musitron.

File 3
Greb, Charles E., Sr. - 1907-1940, 1950, 1995.
Contents: file consists of documents relating to the life and death of Charles E. Greb Sr., including his term as mayor of Kitchener (1921-1922). Includes press clippings, correspondence to Greb, ms. notes, ephemera, and personal documents including hunting and driving licences, a bank book, medallions, pins, etc. File also includes Greb's will and probate, estate inventory, and correspondence to Erwin C. Greb relating to his father's death. Among the correspondence to Charles E. Greb are letters sent on behalf of British Prime Minister Lloyd George, US President Warren Harding, and a letter from Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Some material may be restricted.

File 4
Greb, Charles E., Sr. : ledger. - 1884-1933, 1982, [ca. 2008], 2009.
Contents: file consists of a ledger kept by Charles Greb from 1884 to 1933, and material relating to Greb's hardware and hotel businesses in Zurich, Ontario where he lived before moving to Berlin (now Kitchener) in 1909. Includes a receipt to Greb from Charles Hartleib for the stock of the hardware store in Zurich, a press clipping about the history of the store, ms. notes, statements from the Waterloo Bond Corporation, and ts. notes by Charles E. Greb about the ledger. These notes indicate that the ledger records transactions relating to the hardware store or the Huron Hotel (1884-1904); judgements made by Greb as a Justice of the Peace for Huron County (1906-1908); and transactions from building renovations, investments, loans, etc. (1909-1933).

File 5
Greb, Erwin C. - 1878, 1914-1946, 1957. - 6 photographs : b&w ; 8 x 14 cm or smaller.
Contents: file consists of personal documents relating to Erwin C. Greb (1894-1954) and his wife Clara (1894-19--). Includes personal correspondence to Erwin, birth and marriage certificates, the wills of Clara and of Erwin's maternal grandfather John Baptist Mayer, a deed of land for a property on Mansion Street (Kitchener), certificates for Erwin's memberships in the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club and the Grand River Masonic Lodge, and other documents. File also includes several photographs, as well as funeral notices for Erwin's father Charles Greb (1934), mother Caroline Greb (1931), sister Eleanora Dumart (1929), and nephew William Dumart (1925).
Some material may be restricted.

File 6
Greb, Harry. - 1967, 1988, 1998-2008.
Contents: file consists of material relating to Harry D. Greb (1916-1998) and his wife Dorothy Greb (1918-2008). Includes press clippings relating to their deaths and the induction of Harry into the Waterloo County Hall of Fame (2001), ephemera, and the October 1967 issue of The Canada Lutheran containing an article by Harry. Some press clippings are photocopies and print-outs from the World Wide Web.
Original title: Harry Mar. 25, 1998.

File 7a
Greb, May. - 1951, 1956, 1998-2007.
Contents: file consists of material documenting the life and death of Clara May Greb (1921-2006), as well as her bequests to the Junior Achievement of Waterloo Region Foundation and the KW YMCA's Endowment Foundation. Includes press clippings and newsletters relating to her death and gifts (some print-outs from the World Wide Web); birth and death certificates; correspondence; a speech given at the funeral; etc. File also includes travel itineraries for trips May Greb took in 1951 and 1956, and letters she wrote home to family members while on the 1956 around-the-world trip.
Some material may be restricted.

File 7b
Greb, May : to be reviewed. - 1951, 1956, 1998-2007.
Contents: file consists of material removed from file 39a relating to the death and estate of Clara May Greb. Includes and estate summary, her will, affidavits, and related correspondence.
Some material may be restricted.

File 8
Velvet and Jasmine. - 1963-1973, 2002. - 19 photographs : b&w and col. ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller.
Contents: file consists of material relating to the Hush Puppies brand mascots, basset hounds Velvet and Jasmine, and in particular their disappearance in 1973. Includes press clippings (some photocopies), photographs of Velvet and other basset hounds, and the incoming and outgoing correspondence of Charles E. Greb with citizens concerned about the dogs. File also includes veterinary records and registration and transfer certificates for Jasmine from the Jamaica Kennel Club, and pedigree certificates for both dogs.
Original title: Velvet, 1973.
Photographer: Charles Belair Studio Limited (Kitchener, ON).
Photographer: Graphic Arts Photographers (Toronto, ON).

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Series 2 : Charles E. Greb : Ontario Summer Games

Charles E. Greb : Ontario Summer Games. - 1975-1977. - 6 cm.
Contents: series consists of material relating to the Ontario Summer Games, held in Waterloo on August 26-29, 1977, and also includes some material relating to the City of Waterloo's bid to host the 1981 Canada Summer Games. Includes press clippings, scrapbooks, ephemera, promotional material, correspondence, and other material. Charles E. Greb was Chairman of the Ontario Summer Games committee from 1975-1977, and in this role also sat on the Canada Summer Games bid submission committee.
Linear extent of series does not include oversized materials.

File 9
Ontario Summer Games 1977. - 1975-1977.
Contents: file consists of material relating to the 1977 Ontario Summer Games, and some material relating to the City of Waterloo's bid to host the 1981 Canada Games. Includes the official program for the Ontario Summer Games and other advertising material, press clippings, correspondence addressed to Charles E. Greb (including a letter from Premier William G. Davis), and ephemera. File also includes a booklet about the Shoe Manufacturers' Association of Canada.

File 10
Ontario Summer Games scrapbook. - 1976-1977.
Contents: file consists of a scrapbook containing press clippings and ephemera relating to the Ontario Summer Games. Includes the remarks given by Charles E. Greb at the opening ceremonies, invitations, and pamphlets and other publicity material for the games and related events.
Originally in a three-ring binder.

File 11 OVR
Scrapbooks. - 1977.
Contents: file consists of four scrapbooks containing press clippings relating to the 1977 Ontario Summer Games, held in Kitchener-Waterloo from August 26-29. Press clippings are from the Canadian Press Clipping Service.
Oversized file.
Most clippings are glued to scrapbook pages.

File 12
Waterloo Canada Games bid, 1977. - 1977.
Contents: file consists of material relating to the official application by the City of Waterloo to host the 1981 Canada Summer Games. Includes the bid submission, copies of letters of support from MPPs, mayors, and other organizations and institutions, and the Ontario Summer Games 1977 program.
Originally in a three-ring binder.
Material is in French and English.

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Series 3 : Local and General History

Local and general history. - 1921, 1939-1945, 1954, 1963, 1979. - 64.5 cm.
Contents: series consists of newspaper clippings and other material relating to significant events in Kitchener as well as internationally. Includes clippings relating to the election of Charles Greb Sr. for mayor of Kitchener, World War II, and other subjects.
Series arranged chronologically.

File 13 OVR
Newspaper clippings. - 1921, 1954, 1979.
Contents: file consists of newspaper clippings relating to local history. Includes the Daily Record from 1921 containing the headline: "Kitchener picks Greb for mayor; members of 1920 council head poll". Includes two special issues of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, one celebrating Kitchener's centennial (1954) and one celebrating Kitchener's 125th anniversary (1979).
Oversized file.
Some material is fragile.

File 14 OVR
International news headlines. - 1939-1944, 1963.
Contents: file consists of the front pages from the Kitchener Daily Record, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, the Toronto Daily Star, and the Globe and Mail containing headlines relating to World War II and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Oversized file.

File 15 OVR
Cleveland News : front page history of World War II. - 1945.
Contents: file consists of a publication from the Cleveland News containing images of the front page of the newspaper between December 1941 and August 1945.
Oversized file.

File 16 OVR
Life magazine : special issue : the decade in pictures. - 1979.
Contents: file consists of the December 1979 issue of Life magazine, a special issue looking back at the 1970s.
Oversized file.

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Series 4 : Photographs

Photographs. - [192-?]-[196-], 1999. - 1 cm. - 7 photographs : b&w and col. ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller.
Contents: series consists of photographs and portraits relating to the Greb family. Includes photographs of Greb family members and of Harry Greb's yacht.
Series arranged alphabetically.

File 17
Greb, Charles E. - [195-?], 1999. - 3 photographs : b&w and col. ; 26 x 21 cm or smaller.
Contents: file consists of three photographs of Charles E. Greb: one with the Hush Puppies basset hound mascot Velvet, one with two unidentified men at radio station CJBC, and a snapshot of Greb with three unidentified men on a backyard deck.
Photographer: Gilbert A. Milne & Co. Ltd. (Toronto, ON).

File 18
Greb family. - [ca. 1950?]. - 2 photographs : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm and 21 x 26 cm.
Contents: file consists of a portrait of Erwin and Clara Greb and a portrait of the whole family (Erwin and Clara and their children Harry, Arthur, Charles, and Clara May).

Photographer: Paul Pequegnat Photograph.

File 19
Greb, Harry. - [196-]. - 2 photographs : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm.
Contents: file consists of two photographs of Harry Greb shaking hands, in one with his brother Arthur Greb and in the other with an unidentified man.
Photographer: Roy Purkis (Kitchener, ON).

File 20
Postcard. - [192-?].
Contents: file consists of a postcard containing a photograph of two men, a woman, and a baby seated on steps leading to a front porch. One of the men in the photograph could be Charles Greb Sr. [?].
Ms. note on verso: Dress maker Mrs. Berall.

File 21
Yachts. - [194-]. - 2 photographs : b&w ; 26 x 21 cm and 21 x 26 cm.
Contents: file consists of two photographs of Harry Greb's schooner "Heron".
Photographer: Ken Dougan, Sun-Times Photographer.

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