'Life of consequence': Alvin Libin's Calgary legacy remembered

As a nine-year-old, Alvin Libin eagerly used a new bicycle to deliver bread for his family's business. It was the genesis of a life spent building and giving.

Libin, whose death at age 95 was announced Monday, became one of Calgary's most consequential private citizens—an entrepreneur, philanthropist and vision-maker whose name is woven into hospitals, universities, sports organizations and countless community causes across the city. Yet those who knew him say his greatest achievement was the humility with which he wielded that influence.

"People don't know they've benefitted from his vision, energy and generosity," said Sydney Sharpe, who authored Libin's 2023 biography, From the Heart.

Libin's parents, Norman and Ethel, emigrated from Russia's Chernigov County to escape anti-Semitic pogroms under Tsarist rule. They could have settled anywhere. They chose Calgary.

"(Norman) had an incredible passion for Calgary and so did Alvin," Sharpe said. The close-knit family branched into finance, groceries, long-term care and hotels. Alvin became a partner in the International Hotel downtown and the Carriage House Inn on Macleod Trail.

In 1994, at an age when many would contemplate retirement, Libin joined the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. He admitted he barely understood hockey. "I could barely skate, so let's just say I'm not a good hockey player," he said. But during the team's darker days, he appealed to Calgarians for their support.

He never stopped working. "He went to the office nearly every day of his entire working life into his 90s," Sharpe said.

His wide contributions to the community are likely best-known through the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, supported by the Alvin and Mona Libin Foundation. That generosity extended to medical research and the University of Calgary, among many other causes. Yet he shied away from accolades.

"He was just a humble guy who knew what he wanted to do and did it," said his cousin Phil Libin, 89. "He had a lot of foresight but he never took a lot of credit or publicity."

Libin was also a philanthropist for Calgary's Jewish community and at one time headed the Calgary Jewish Community Council. The biography Sharpe authored was written largely at Libin's insistence that it focus on his parents rather than on him.

"He built and he gave — to him, living is building and giving," Sharpe said.

In a statement, Mayor Jeromy Farkas spoke to the scope of Libin's work. "He understood that the true measure of life is not what we accumulate but what we leave behind," Farkas said. "His name is woven into the fabric of Calgary, through our hospitals, universities, research institutions, sports organizations and countless community organizations and causes that have been strengthened by his leadership and generosity."

Phil Libin, who spent his earliest years close to his cousin, took pride in that connection. "I miss him very, very much," he said.