Cancer society wins battle of ill will

Made fortune in tobacco, heavy smoker
leaves $450,000 to spite family

Toronto -- The Canadian Cancer Society is getting $450,000 from the will of a British Columbia man after a two-year legal battle with his 90-year-old widow.

In an added twist, the deceased man, David Crerar, smoked heavily and made a fortune investing in a tobacco company.

"It is one of those pieces of irony," said Christine Spinder, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver office of the Cancer Society.

Mr. and Mrs. Crerar were married for 65 years and lived on a farm. The couple had three sons: Peter, 67; George, 58; and Richard, 62, who is a former assistant commissioner of the RCMP.

Court documents portray Mr. Crerar as a mean father who beat his three sons, deprived his wife, Winnifred, and then included the Cancer Society in his will to spite the family. He was described in court as a "harsh, frugal to the point of miserliness, husband and father."

Mrs. Crerar and the boys did most of the farm chores while Mr. Crerar managed the family's finances. He was a shrewd investor, and at his death his estate was worth $1.9-million. His stock portfolio included $156,000 worth of shares in tobacco giant Imasco Ltd.

Mr. Crerar fought bitterly with Peter and Richard.

Peter left home at 18, but returned at 25 when his father promised to give him part of the farm. However, Mr. Crerar reneged on his promise and Peter left two years later. He didn't see his father for 20 years.
In 1978 he came home for a visit but left after two days when his father said the house wasn't a motel. Peter now runs a sheep farm in Nevada.

Richard left home at 18 as well and joined the RCMP. He retired as assistant commissioner in 1989. He split with his father during a visit in 1986, when Richard arrived with his son and his son's girlfriend. Late one night, Mr. Crerar discovered the two young people sleeping together and ordered them out of the house. Richard was furious, but Mr. Crerar called him a "hypocrite and a liar."

Mr. Crerar remained close to his youngest son, George, who ran his own logging business until he retired a millionaire in 1992.

Mr. Crerar died at 94. In his will, he created a $500,000 fund for his wife, Peter and George. He also gave George an extra $100,000. Richard received nothing, and $1.2-million was donated to the Cancer Society.

The family immediately challenged the will in B.C. Supreme Court, arguing it was unfair. Mrs. Crerar said the Cancer Society donation "was made by my husband for the purpose not of providing for the Society, but to deprive myself and my sons in a manner consistent with the deprivation that I and my family suffered under the control of my husband."

The court agreed and altered the will to give $1-million to Mrs. Crerar, $850,000 to the sons and less than $100,000 to the Society.

The Society appealed the decision, arguing the court was not adhering to Mr. Crerar's wishes. B.C.'s Court of Appeal agreed.

In a ruling in August, it changed the will again. Mrs. Crerar now receives $1-million, the sons split $450,000 and the Society gets $450,000

Ms. Spinder said the Society expects to receive the money soon. She added that these kinds of disputes are rare, but the society has to protect its interests when it comes to wills.

"Approximately one-third of our revenue comes from bequests," she said.

Last year, out of $14-million in total revenue, the B.C. chapter received $5.6-million from bequests. The society's national revenue is around $74-million.