John David Molson (June 1, 1928 – May 8, 2017) was a Canadian businessman and sports executive. A member of the

Molson family The Molson family of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was founded by John Molson, who immigrated to Canada in 1782 from his home in Lincolnshire, England. They are considered to be one of Canada's most prominent business families with a combined net w ...

, he served as the president of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

for eight years.

Biography

Molson, known as David, was born June 1, 1928, to John Henry Molson and Florence Hazel Browne. Educated in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and then in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(1948–1950), he joined Molson Breweries Limited in 1949. He worked for the company for several years and became a vice-president in January 1964.

Montreal Canadiens

During the

1963–64 NHL season The 1963–64 NHL season was the 47th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their third consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings four games to three in the final serie ...

, his cousin,

Hartland Molson Hartland de Montarville Molson, (May 29, 1907 – September 28, 2002) was an Anglo-Quebecer statesman, Senate of Canada, Canadian senator, military aviator, and a member of the Molson family of brewing, brewers. Education Born in Montreal, Que ...

, who purchased the team in 1957, offered him the post of president of the

. Four years later, David and his brothers, Bill and Peter, acquired the team from their cousins. David continued as team president until 1972 when he and his brothers sold the team to

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

and

Peter Bronfman Peter Frederick Bronfman OC (October 2, 1929 – December 1, 1996) was a Canadian businessman and entrepreneur, born in Montreal, and member of the Toronto branch of Canada's wealthy Bronfman family. He attended Selwyn House School in Montrea ...

for $15 million. During his tenure, the Canadiens won 5

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

s: in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

Personal life

Molson married Claire Faulkner in 1955 with whom he had two sons (John Henry and David Hugh) and one daughter (Catherine Elizabeth). Molson died on May 8, 2017, at the age of 88.

References

1928 births 2017 deaths J, David Molson Montreal Canadiens executives National Hockey League executives Stanley Cup champions {{Canada-business-bio-stub