Norman Otto Hipel, MPP

Other Events:

• Interesting: politics, business, scandal
• Name: N. O. Hipel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-93621
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1911, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Carpenter, House Building
• Residence: 1911, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

Norman Otto Hipel was born on a farm near Breslau. He left school at age 14 to work as a clerk in a Kitchener Dry Goods Store to help his family financially. In 1906 he returned home to learn carpentry from his father while taking correspondence school courses. In 1911 he became a building contractor and for a time operated the Breslau timber yard. He moved to Preston in 1913 and in about 1920 started N. O. Hipel Ltd. with ten employees, five horses and a portable sawmill. He specialized in buildings requiring large open floor spaces. He built a number of buildings including the Hespeler Memorial Arena in 1947. He served in Preston town council, became reeve and then Mayor. In 1930 he was elected as MPP for Waterloo South. Served as speaker of the house from 1935-1938.


Cambridge Mosaic , Jim Quantrell, 1998, City of Cambridge [abbreviated snippet from original text in book]

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Daughter of politician seeks $20 million over 1953 Will
December 03, 2009 By Brian Caldwell, Record staff

KITCHENER A family scandal more than 55 years in the making is now being aired in a $20-million lawsuit in a Kitchener courtroom. At the heart of the dispute is a will left by Norman Hipel, a prominent Cambridge politician and businessman who died in 1953. A former mayor of Preston and Liberal MPP who held high-profile posts in the provincial cabinet,

Hipel was survived by his wife, Olive, and their two children, George and Norma. The will specified that his considerable estate was to be equally divided between his children following the death of his wife, who was to live off its income until then. His assets should have been split up and distributed when Olive died in 1978. But in a case that went to trial this week, Norma, 89, claims she wasn't told about her inheritance and didn't receive any money while she struggled to raise seven children in poverty.

Now named Norma Jacques and living in Calgary, she is expected to testify today in a bid to right that alleged wrong. "My client is here to see that justice is done," her lawyer, David Smith, said in his opening address. "It's that simple." Jacques claims she didn't know about her entitlement until 2004, when one of her daughters found Hipel's will in public archives. Her lawsuit accused her brother George who died in 2004 of improperly seizing ownership of their father's sawmill and construction company, N.O. Hipel Ltd., then plundering its assets and depriving her of her inheritance.

She alleges her family disapproved of her marriage to a Catholic man of French-Canadian background. That aspect of the case was settled out of court last year when George's estate, valued at $1.2 million, agreed to pay Jacques $300,000 and gave her his $260,000 house on Queenston Road. "Norma was clearly victimized by her own brother," Smith said.

The other prong of the lawsuit is aimed at the trust company Waterloo Trust, which has since been acquired by TD Canada Trust that was hired to administer Hipel's estate. Jacques claims it didn't live up to its responsibility to properly manage the assets or ensure she got her half of them. TD Canada Trust is defending the lawsuit, which is complicated by the fact that files on the Hipel estate were lost or destroyed. Ross Earnshaw, a lawyer for the company, said in his opening address there is "circumstantial evidence" Jacques in fact got her inheritance around 1966, when her family's home and small business was destroyed by fire.

He also outlined several technical arguments involving the passage of time, including one that Jacques simply waited too long to make her claim when she knew, or ought to have known, about it. That defence is based in part on documents Jacques signed in 1955 and 1956 suggesting she had been informed of the provisions in her father's will. The trial is expected to continue into 2010.

Waterloo Region Record December 03, 2009

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Judge rules woman waited too long to claim inheritance

KITCHENER An elderly woman who claims she was cheated out of an inheritance after her father died almost 60 years ago has lost a legal bid for $20-million in compensation. The complicated case involved a will left by Norman Hipel, a prominent businessperson and politician in what is now Cambridge. In addition to owning a successful sawmill and construction company, Hipel was a mayor of the former town of Preston who went on to provincial cabinet as a Liberal MPP.

When he died in 1953, his will specified that his estate was to be divided between his two children, George and Norma, following the death of his wife, Olive. Olive died in 1978 after living off income from the estate, as the will also stipulated. Hipel's daughter Norma, meanwhile, had married a man the family disapproved of and was struggling to raise seven children in poverty. Now named Norma Jacques and living in Calgary, the 91-year-old woman claimed in a lawsuit that she was never told about her inheritance or given a penny of the money.

Her entitlement only came to light, she alleged, when one of her daughters stumbled on the will in public archives in 2004 and began investigating. Family members helped Jacques launch legal action in 2005 against the estate of her brother George who took over his father's business and died in 2004 and a trust company. George's estate settled out of court in 2008, agreeing to pay Jacques about $560,000 in cash and property.

That left a lawsuit against TD Canada Trust, which had acquired Waterloo Trust, the company originally hired to administer Hipel's estate. Jacques sought millions in damages after alleging the trust company failed to properly manage her father's assets and ensure she got half of them. Establishing what happened was frustrated by the passage of time and the death of numerous potential witnesses.

Jacques testified in Kitchener court but admitted she couldn't remember key dates and details after suffering a stroke a few years earlier. Except for a single file divider, the trust company had also lost all of its documents related to the Hipel estate and its handling. In a ruling this month after a 17-day trial in late 2009 and early 2010, Justice Michael Parayeski concluded that Jacques never received her share of the inheritance, as she claimed. But he also found that Jacques knew or should have known about her entitlement as far back as the mid-1950s, when she signed documents related to the sale of estate property. As a result, Parayeski dismissed her claim because she didn't go after the money within a six-year limitation period following the death of her mother in 1978.

The Waterloo Region Record 24 Sep 2011

Norman married Olive Victoria Eby 18 Mar 1913, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Olive (daughter of George M. Eby and Elizabeth Shupe) was born 16 Sep 1890, Gowanstown, Wallace Twp., Perth Co., Ontario; died Mar 1978, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Ruth Isabel Hipel was born 1905, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 26 Mar 1927, Freeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried 28 Mar 1927, Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
2. George Garfield Hipel was born 1914; died 2004; was buried , Preston Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
3. Norma Hipel was born 1920.

Other Events:

• Name: H. M. Hipel
• Name: Henry Heipel
• Name: Henry Heupel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-93618
• Residence: 1861, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1885, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Occupation: 1904, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer
• Occupation: 1911, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer, Carpenter
• Residence: 1911, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Henry married Louisa Peltz 10 Nov 1885, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Louisa (daughter of Gustave Peltz and Sophia) was born CALC 27 Mar 1861, , Ontario, Canada; died 14 Sep 1894; was buried , Breslau Mennonite Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Louisa Hipel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-93619
• Residence: 1881, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1885, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Name: George Heipel
• Name: George Heupel
• Name: George Hipel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-148079
• Occupation: 1861, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Laborer
• Residence: 1861, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1881, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

George — Christina Diebel. Christina (daughter of Christoph Diebel and Anna Gela Stein) was born 28 Jun 1821, , Germany; died 20 Feb 1874; was buried , Breslau Mennonite Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Christina Dienell
• Name: Christina Heipel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-148080
• Residence: 1861, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-229394
• Residence: 1881, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Market Gardener
• Residence: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Gustave — Sophia. Sophia was born Mar 1824, , Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Sophia Peltz
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-229393
• Immigration: 1863, , Canada
• Residence: 1881, Puslinch Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1891, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124354

Christoph — Anna Gela Stein. Anna was born CA 1804, of, Solms, , Hessen, Germany; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Gela Diebel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-124356

Notes:

Anne Geld's name may actually be Angela.