For decades, the Phi Delta Theta Canadian Foundation has been fortunate to have Grant Loree, Toronto ’70 on its board of directors. He has been the Foundation’s longest-standing director and its chairman for many years. From his early days on the board, Grant—almost single-handedly—sustained the Foundation as its primary donor, chief fundraiser, and primary promoter. Annual campaigns were driven primarily by Grant, who, along with the other directors, would fold letters into envelopes, lick stamps, and add personal appeals to potential donors. These early years were lean, and the Canadian Foundation remains an all-volunteer effort with no paid staff.
In those early days, it was not uncommon for the Canadian Foundation to receive $8,000 to $10,000 in annual donations from a few dozen alumni. Awarding three or four scholarships totaling $5,000-$6,000 was a great year. In contrast, with Grant as a board member this year, the Canadian Foundation raised over $110,000 from more than 120 alumni. Grant’s tenure on the board has seen quite a positive change for the Canadian Foundation.
Grant was initiated into the Ontario Alpha Chapter at the University of Toronto on November 30, 1966, and graduated with a bachelor’s in commerce. He rose through the ranks of the investment industry, joined the board of directors at RBC Dominion Securities, and eventually moved to the private client group, where he is currently a senior portfolio manager & wealth advisor with the Denham Loree Wealth Management Group.
Grant has enjoyed a long association with the Fraternity in a volunteer capacity. He was the Alpha North Province President from 1984–89 and an Ontario Alpha House Corporation member from 2016–17. His deepest involvement in Phi Delta Theta has been as a director of the Canadian Foundation, where he served as its chairman for many years. He remains a board member of the Canadian Foundation and heads the Foundation’s Investment Committee.
Brother Loree has certainly lived his life in the Fraternity according to the principles upon which it underpins its whole brotherhood: to transmit the Fraternity to those who follow; not only, not less, but greater than it was transmitted to him.
To characterize Grant as a leader in the business world and Phi Delta Theta is an understatement. He has been a mentor to many undergraduates and alumni. His quiet presence and influence on others lead them to do their best in their endeavors, and his friendships with countless Phis across this country and throughout the Fraternity are boundless.
It is for this reason that the Canadian Foundation’s Board of Directors has unanimously voted to recognize the Foundation’s preeminent award winner in the leadership category henceforth as the Grant Loree Canadian Phi Delta Theta Foundation Leadership Award.
