Paul Grieco, the gregarious entrepreneur who launched PR Engineering in Oshawa, Ont., has died. He was 92.
Grieco was general manager of the mining division of Scarborough, Ont.-based John Inglis Co. when, in 1965, General Electric bought it and decided it no longer wanted the Birdsboro line of crushers. Grieco, sensing an opportunity, contacted the company’s headquarters in Birdsboro, Penn., and arranged to become the exclusive Canadian rights-holder for the line of crushers.
“We literally started the company at our kitchen table and built an office in the basement,” says Grieco’s younger son, Frank, who joined PR Engineering with his brother Joe in 1973.
Paul Grieco graduated with a degree in mining engineering from the University of Toronto in 1935 and set out for the mines of Timmins, Ont., including the Desantis mine.
His hobby throughout life was photography, and Grieco’s pictures of mining executives found their way into such magazines as Time and Life, as well as the Encylopedia Britannica.
In 1943, Grieco and his wife Rose moved to Rouyn-Noranda, Que., where he worked as manager, operator and sales engineer at various mines. In 1953, the family headed back to the Toronto, where Grieco joined the John Inglis Co.
Rose Grieco died in 1992, though Paul continued to live in the same house, driving to the Oshawa plant each day until he was 91.
Grieco says his father will be remembered for his sense of humour and his skill in promoting his line of crushers.
He is survived by his children Rosalie, Frank, Joe and Cathy, eight grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.
The circumstances of Nutt’s death have not been confirmed, but it appears he was mapping alone in the field, some 15-20 km from the Bisha camp of Nevsun Resources, and failed to return to camp. Following a search, his body was found near his vehicle, which had been burned. Police and medical authorities suspect he was murdered.
Nutt was born in England, and emigrated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1956, where his father worked as a doctor. He remained there until recently, when political turmoil forced him and his family to take up residence in South Africa.
In 1977, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhodesia (now the University of Zimbabwe), and in 1986 obtained his master’s in philosophy.
He became a lecturer and a professor at the university, giving valuable instruction to many African geologists. He also worked with the Geological Survey of Zimbabwe, and as a research associate at the University of Cologne.
He was a member of the Society of Economic Geologists and a founding member of the Geological Society of Zimbabwe. Nutt’s last major publication was on the Tanzanian Goldfields, a summary of which he presented recently at the 2003 convention of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, in Toronto.
In 1989, he established a consulting and geological services company in Harare. This work took him to Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, DRC, Tanzania, Uganda, and Eritrea. Clients included Anglo American, Ashanti Goldfields, Falconbridge, Inmet, Kinross and Union Carbide.
Nutt’s remains are being sent back to his family in South Africa. Arrangements are being made to establish a student bursary in his honour.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
— With files from T. Bottrill.
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