Walter Hachborn

As cofounder and president of Home Hardware, Walter Hachborn built this successful Canadian company by making people his business. Hachborn was born in Conestogo, Ontario and he has lived in St. Jacobs most of his life. With two other businessmen, he purchased Hollinger Hardware in 1950, from which evolved Home Hardware (established in 1963) as a network of independent hardware dealers across Canada.

Hachborn was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2000 honouring his many achievements to the betterment of business and community life in Waterloo Region. He was a Director of the Asthma Society of Canada, and a member of the Waterloo Historical Society, the St. Jacobs Horticultural Society, and the Woolwich Community Health Centre. He is a volunteer for the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO) and has served in Panama, the Czech Republic and in Canadian native communities.

He was named Citizen of the Year of Woolwich Township in 1976. He received an Honourary LLD degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1985. His other honorary awards include Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year (1988), Master Entrepreneur of the Year (1996), Inaugural Corporate Partnership Award of the Asthma Society of Canada (2000), and he was named to the Canadian Hardware Housewares Hall of Fame (1989). Canada Business Magazine, Hardware Merchandising recently named him Retailer of the Century.

His past services include three years in the Canadian Armed Forces, Vice-President of the Woolwich Township Planning Board (1957-1972), four years on the Board of Governors of Waterloo College, ten years on the Board of Governors of Wilfrid Laurier University, six years on the Executive Board of the Lutheran Church of America (Canada Synod). He was founding President of United Hardware Wholesalers and founding chairman of Interlink International. He was a director of J.M. Schneider, Inc., and Chairman of the Energy Section of the Distributive Trades Consultative Committee (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Commerce).