Ian R. Friendly, BCom, has joined Recombinetics Inc. as its CEO. This early-stage biotech company based in St. Paul, MN, develops and utilizes gene-editing technologies to improve and lengthen human lives, as well as to improve agriculture to help feed the world’s growing population and reduce animal suffering. Previously, Ian spent 31 years at General Mills, most recently as EVP/COO. He continues to serve on the Smith School of Business Advisory Board and Global Council.
Alumni Notes
Submit your alumni note to Smith Magazine1983
Susan Eileen (Cameron) Cook (BCom) died in December 2010 at the Montreal Neurological Hospital after a lengthy battle with frontotemporal dementia. She was 50. Those left to mourn Sue include her husband and classmate, Richard “Rick” Cook (Com’83), their children Kevin, Trevor and Lynsey, her mother Catherine Cameron (the late Hugh), and a large family of siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews. Sue came to Queen’s from Toronto, met her life partner in Dunning Hall, and they went off as newlyweds to Lausanne, Switzerland, for a two-year adventure after graduation. Then they settled in Montreal to raise their family. Friends say Sue brought passion, joy and commitment to all her undertakings—family life, charities and sports teams—and her kind nature, grace, and radiant spirit earned her many enduring friendships.
Published in: Summer 2011
George DeMarchi, BCom, died on April 5, 2020. He was a family man, a loyal friend, an entrepreneur and mentor, a coach and a community builder. He is survived by his wife, Nora, and two children, Alexandra and Justin.
Published in: Spring 2021
Joseph Faello (BCom) left Mississippi State University in August 2007 with only his dissertation to complete to obtain his PhD in accounting this year. He currently resides in Columbus, Mississippi.
Published in: Summer 2008
Ian Friendly (BCom) was elected to Valspar’s Board of Directors in June to serve on the audit committee. A current member of the QSB Advisory Board, Ian is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Retail, General Mills Inc. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Minnesota Public Radio and is a member of the Board of Artspace Projects, Inc. in Minneapolis.
Published in: Summer 2009
Kathleen MacKay, BCom, says that she retired from Canada’s Foreign Service in August 2017. Kathleen spent years working on trade disputes and trade negotiations, and her career included postings in Japan, India, Belgium and Taiwan. Classmates can reach her at catskath@gmail.com.
Published in: Summer 2018
Dave Marston (BCom) is living in Bergen County, NJ, where he heads a management consultancy for Fortune 500 companies looking to strengthen their business strategy and cost structure. “I’d be happy to hear from classmates whenever you’re in the NYC area,” he writes.
Published in: Summer 2011
THE TALE OF THE UKRAINIAN HOCKEY JERSEYS Jake Chadwick, BCom’83, and Andrew Mitchell, BCom'07, sent in this intriguing photo of his class’s team that vied for the Commerce Cup this year. The obvious question was, what’s the deal with the Ukrainian jerseys? Teammate Sam McCoubrey replied with the whole story. The saga began about 15 years ago. I play hockey in a beer league in Montréal. A group of us decided to get a set of custom jerseys to wear in tournaments to replace the mismatched ones we wore in our regular season games. Since I used to be in the hockey business, I volunteered to get it done. My guy at Bauer Hockey Team Sports made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. NHLer Dainius Zubrus, then a Montréal Canadien, had sponsored a team from Ukraine to compete in a tournament in Canada.The team had to cancel at the last minute, leaving Bauer with 20 home and away jerseys (and matching socks!). They were beauties, so we jumped at them. But, the hockey gods were not happy. We wore those jerseys for five years, in more than 15 tournaments. We struck fear into our opponents when we’d take to the ice in our awesome uniforms, complete with intimidating Ukrainian and Russian surnames on the back. We lost every game we played in those jerseys. We finally retired them and banished them to a teammate’s dark basement. Then, fate smiled. Classmate Ratch (Richard Dowling) had heard that the Commerce'83 hockey program was being resurrected. It was just like the rebirth of the Senators in Ottawa, the Jets in Winnipeg, and maybe, someday, the Nordiques in Québec! But we had a problem. In fact, we had two problems—age and talent. Even so, Ratch put the word out. What we may have lacked in individual talent, we made up for in sheer numbers (which turned out to be more than we ever had during our Queen’s years). And we could impress with our uniforms. I knew the intimidating names would count in our favour. (Jake likes to repeat one opponent’s comment, “Wow, there sure were a lot of Russians in your year!”) The hockey gods smiled. The first year we may not have won any actual games, but we learned that our goalie, Derek "Lurch" Laishley, a non-hockey player at Queen's, had blossomed, post-graduation in Calgary, into a superstar between the pipes. Although the jerseys' record remained perfect at zero wins and many losses in our first tourney season, we had gained considerable confidence. Those jerseys have now won games in the last two Commerce alumni tournaments. Our ages have not changed. Our talent (other than in goal) remains questionable. But we have confidence. Could it be all about the Ukrainian jerseys after all? ■ Sam McCoubrey is the VP, Sales, Canada, for Kamik, a manufacturer of winter and rubber boots in Montréal. ■ Jake Chadwick is a financial consultant/provider of CFO services to start-ups in Montréal. ■ Richard Dowling lives in Aurora, Ont., and is a financial consultant to insurance brokers. ■ Andrew Mitchell, BCom’07, has for several years been the convenor of the Commerce Alumni Hockey Tournament. This year, more than 150 alums participated. “Players are flying into Kingston from all over North America to meet up with their former classmates for a few hockey games and a few beers”, says Andrew. Mark your calendar for next year's edition: April 16-17, 2016
Published in: Summer 2015
Robert (Bob) McFarlane, BCom, was inducted into the Queen's Football Hall of Fame in the Builder category in September at a ceremony held in the new Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. Bob played for the Golden Gaels from 1979 to 1982 and has been an active supporter of the football program ever since. Bob is a member of several corporate and NFP boards following nearly two decades as EVP & CFO of TELUS Corporation and, previously, Clearnet Communications, which TELUS acquired in 2000. In 2007, Bob was named Canada's Top CFO. Bob serves on the University's Board of Trustees and as a director of the Red Banner Society, recently established to co-manage and support the Queen's varsity football program at the new Richardson Memorial Stadium, which is slated to open in time for the fall 2016 season. Bob and his family continue to live in Vancouver, their home for the last 15 years.
Published in: Winter 2016
Robert G. McFarlane, BCom, wrote to say that he “had a nice time at Homecoming this fall visiting daughter Kristen, who is following in Dad’s footsteps as a Commerce frosh at Smith.” Robert’s son, Matthew, is also in the Commerce program (third year), and enjoyed fall term as an international exchange student at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.
Published in: Winter 2019