Background
Pencer was born in Montreal, Quebec into a Jewish family. Gerald was born on April 26, 1945 at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He grew up learning Judaism.
Pencer was born in Montreal, Quebec into a Jewish family. Gerald was born on April 26, 1945 at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He grew up learning Judaism.
He and his family lived on a walk-up on Dolland Avenue out in Outremont. When Gerald went to school he was always told he was a very good listener and was a very bright and smart student. By grade 7, he never had to study for any of his tests because he had the ability to remember and to model what he learned in class.
As a boy, Gerald Pencer was not very fit.
Growing up he ate 4–5 meals a day and a bunch of snacks in between. Since he always ate that much, he was nicknamed Round Little Gerry.
He hated that nickname but liked and kept the name Gerry. Gerry Pencer had a lot of perseverance.
He believed it came from his mother.
When his mother was 42, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Gerry"s father was very supportive with her and was always taking her places. The doctor said that she would only survive about 4–5 years.
She had a long struggle and managed to survive 17 years.
When Gerry was 44 he took over a business called Cott, at the time it was an unknown soft drink manufacturer. Now, it is the world"s largest producer of retailer brand popular and it is worth over $1 billion.
lieutenant"s made a lot of people very rich. Gerry says, "Even if you"ve never heard of Cott, you have probably seen or tasted one of our products.
But what Cott did was bigger than money, we grew very fast and made Coke, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi blink."
Gerry Pencer took Cott to its biggest high
He made it a fast selling company and helped it with its publicity and money making. Unfortunately, 8 years after Gerry took over Cott (1997), he was diagnosed with cancer. Gerry will always be remembered for his great perseverance and for what he did to make Cott what it is today.
On May 23, 1997, Gerry Pencer was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an advanced-stage extremely aggressive cancerous brain tumour.
Gerry Pencer died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the age of 53. He was buried in the Holy Blossom Section of the Pardes Shalom Cemetery in Toronto, Ontario.
Sponsored projects include:
The Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Tumor Centre at Princess Margaret Hospital. The Gerry & Nancy Pencer Brain Trust
the Gerry Pencer Golf Tournament.
