Joe Restoule: Remembering a risk management giant

Loyal, generous, optimistic, gregarious, a visionary — this is how the risk management community will remember Joe Restoule, co-founder and president of the William H. McGannon Foundation, who passed away on Mar. 29 following a battle with cancer. 

Well-known and greatly admired in the community, the industry’s been outpouring with tributes for Restoule, who served McGannon Foundation for more than 20 years. 

April Savchuk, secretary and director of communications at McGannon Foundation remembers his passion for students. Every year, the foundation invites post-secondary recruits from its student involvement program to attend the RIMS Canada Conference.

“On the first night, we have a dinner. It’s quite formal. It’s just the board and the students. And it’s our first [face-to-face] introduction to them,” says Savchuk. “We talk about our backgrounds, and we try to learn from them what they’re interested in, as far what their career might look like. 

“You could see Joe at the head of the table with his eyes sparkling, because he would be so lit up, he would be so pumped up, and so proud to meet these students.”  

Restoule was also an advisory board member for the Risk Management and Insurance program at University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, where he frequently guest-lectured.  

Anne Kleffner, professor and chair of the risk management and insurance program at Haskayne, remembers a time when Restoule — along with a colleague he’d previously introduced her to — came to present in her class.  

“[He] just made risk management absolutely seem like the best thing ever — and why wouldn’t everybody want to be in risk management? — because it was so interesting and challenging and you get to travel and it’s important,” she recalls. “Anyway, after that class, I think everybody did.” 

His spark and dedication, Kleffner says, “was truly extraordinary.”

File photo

Restoule was also vital in selecting and mentoring Mohawk College’s insurance students as they attended industry conventions, says Mary Martin, insurance and business program professor at Mohawk College’s McKeil School of Business. “His legacy will live on in the Mohawk Insurance students and myself who had the wonderful opportunity to meet him.” 

Still, Restoule’s impact on students is perhaps best told by students themselves — many of whom emphasize his kind character, and the passion with which he advocated for their professional development.

“Joe had a presence about him. When he spoke, you wanted to listen because you know that you were going to learn something valuable,” says Michelle Baillie, a 2022 McGannon Student Involvement Program participant.  

“Joe treated all the students like we’re already professionals and that we had something to offer the insurance industry…He was a true mentor and wanted to enrich our lives with all that the insurance industry had to offer.” 

Emily Jung, 2022 McGannon Student Involvement Program participant and scholarship recipient says, “At a time where students may struggle to find their place [or] calling, Joe enabled us to feel recognized, encouraged and confident in our aspirations. Although his lively spirit will be missed dearly, his legacy and impact on our community will be felt forever.” 

Future legacy 

Though his presence will be missed, the industry will honour Restoule’s legacy — particularly, his focus on the mentorship of young P&C professionals. 

Kleffner emphasizes Haskayne’s program will continue to “plant the risk management flag” where possible in his honour. The school is even pursuing having risk management implemented as part of the core bachelors of commerce curriculum. That’s something that would raise the profile of the program and surely please Restoule, Kleffner says.  

As for McGannon Foundation, “we will do Joe proud, and we’ll continue to carry the torch,” says Savchuk. 

Perhaps best summed up by Denny Matthew, 2022 McGannon Student Involvement Program participant, “may we honour Joe’s memory by carrying forward the light he brought into the world, and may we strive to emulate his boundless compassion and unwavering positivity in all that we do.”