OCAD U mourns passing of former Board Chair and ardent supporter

The OCAD University community mourns the passing of Michael Christian de Pencier who was actively engaged with the University when it was known as the Ontario College of Art (OCA). He was Chair of the Board of Governors, served as a member of the Foundation’s Board, and was a key champion in raising funds to build the Rosalie Sharp Centre for Design.

de Pencier, who passed away on October 6, 2024, at the age of 89, received an honorary fellowship from OCA in 1993. As a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, he was instrumental in launching a plan that strengthened the performance of its investment portfolios.

de Pencier was also a long-time champion and generous OCAD U donor with a transformative gift towards the Ideas Needs Space Campaign in 1999 where the Michael & Honor de Pencier Centre for Liberal Studies was named in their honour. He also established and continued to support the Kenneth Rodmell Bursary and was an avid supporter of University art auctions and Project 31. 

He graduated from Trinity College at the University of Toronto and later obtained a master’s degree in philosophy. Obituaries published in The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, note that de Pencier was “a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Michigan when he decided that ideas were more interesting to him when put into motion. With no experience, and a little money crowdsourced from friends and family, de Pencier ventured into the magazine business with his childhood friend Philip Greey.”

de Pencier went on to have a successful publishing career, first with Greey de Pencier Publications and then with Key Publishers Inc. He published some of Canada's marquee magazines, including Toronto Life, Wedding Bells, the 'Key To' and Where visitor chains (in over 41 cities), Canadian Business, Canadian Geographic, Canadian Art, the children’s magazines Owl and Chickadee, Quill and Quire, Gardening Lifeand Fashion. Under Key Publishers Inc., he entered new joint ventures such as Key Porter Books, in partnership with editor Ana Porter.

According to The Globe and Mail, he was instrumental in building the Canadian publishing industry by “helping to set up the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association and Canadian Magazine Awards Foundation, and lobby for government protection from American magazines establishing ‘Canadian editions’ to siphon off advertisers with little editorial investment.”

He gave boundless energy to many different charitable organizations and served on other boards, including Women's College Hospital and Canadian Opera Company, and served as Chair of the Shaw Festival and World Wildlife Fund.

At 67, de Pencier sold his publishing ventures to focus full time on climate change, biodiversity and environmental sustainability issues. He co-founded InvestEco Capital, the first Canadian investment management firm focused exclusively on sustainability, as well as the Green Living Show and numerous other green business ventures.

He was a leader with his own philanthropy. Through Trees for Life, the Highway of Heroes Tree Tribute, GrandTrees Climate Solutions, Kids' Run for Nature, the Natural Burial Association and a slate of other non-profit initiatives, he helped raise millions of dollars and plant millions of trees, his greatest passion. 

As his obituary in The Toronto Star notes: “He woke up every day wanting to make the world a better place. With his death, we have lost a smooth skater, a sure paddler, a thoughtful mentor, an obsessive tree planter, a world-class reveler. He was a quiet, courageous, builder of vital, just and beautiful realms that will outlast him far into the future.”

de Pencier leaves his wife, Honor; his children, Nicholas, Miranda and Mark; and four grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on November 5, 2024 at Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. W., Toronto. In lieu of flowers, the family asks people to consider making a donation to an environmental organization.

Sources:

Toronto Star

Globe and Mail