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Remembering Centre Wellington's grocery store king Merlen Kropf

'There aren't many people who had a business mind like he had,' says Dale Kropf, Merlen's son

The legacy of the man who was once southwestern Ontario's biggest grocery store owners left quite an impression on many communities, including Fergus.

Merlen Kropf was a prominent businessman who helped shape others' careers and served the communities he became a part of. 

Born in 1934, Joseph Merlen Kropf grew up on a family farm in South Easthope. He was raised by his older sister after losing his father at an early age, and after his mother developed complications from a stroke.

Noted as a hard worker with a sharp business sense and strong faith, Merlen would grow up to become an entrepreneur and owner of 10 grocery stores and two golf courses.

"There aren't many people who had a business mind like he had," said Dale Kropf, Merlen's son. "He built a network of stores in an era that you wouldn't be able to do today."

Jason Prieb, manager at Dundas L&M Foodland, said he started working for Merlen 27 years ago as an assistant manager and went on to work in six of his grocery stores. Under his mentorship, Jason said he learned to resolve every disagreement with kindness.

"That goes along with his generosity," Jason said about Merlen and his approach to business.

In 1961, using a loan from his grandfather, Merlen opened L&M Food Markets in the former Steinberg’s Grocery location in Fergus. As a young girl, Merlen's daughter, Debra Kropf, recalls her father focusing on growing the business. Even when the family was going to their cottage at Chesley Lake, she said her father would stop at each of his grocery stores.

“An hour and a half drive always led into multiple hours of picking up book work, talking with the managers,” said Debra.

"Sometimes if you wanted to see him, you would have to go to the store," said Dale.

The business was a family affair as both Merlen’s children worked with their father. Dale said everyone was very "hands-on" with different aspects.

"You are always expected to do a lot and you were always expected to set an example," he said. "He was a mentor to a lot of different people, even my kids."

As an adult, Debra said her relationship with her father grew into a friendship when she began following in his footsteps, renovating and operating his second grocery store, the Geddes Street Market.

“Every opportunity he got to talk to the trades, to meet my staff, to see the day to day building, and to see it open, the excitement he got knowing it’s going to continue,” said Debra. “His legacy is continuing in my family and my children’s family.”

The kids weren’t the only ones involved in the business. Merlen’s wife of 61 years, Doreen, later became his business partner. Debra explains the couple met at Zehrs in Kitchener. Merlen was the store manager and Doreen was a customer. 

“She was more behind the scenes, but she worked with him everyday in their married life, helping him,” Debra said about their business partnership.

As an avid sports fan, Merlen spent every Thursday morning golfing at Guelph Lakes Golf & Country Club after opening the club in 1998.

Jim Farrelly was hired by Merlen to look after the course.  

"We've become good friends, we talked almost every day," said Farrelly. "I had a lot of respect for him."

Outside of his work, Merlen was a large community supporter, sponsoring many local sports teams and donating to the food bank. He also loved hockey and was an avid Montreal Canadians fan, occasionally travelling to watch them play with his friend, Jerry Cooper, and others.

"He had a hockey card made up of his statistics and he would carry it in his wallet, and he would say, 'Would you want to see my hockey card?'" said Jerry. "When they played hockey on a pond and worse catalogues for shin pads, he was from that era and he could verify it."

Jerry said he and Merlen met in 1993 and became close friends. Both businessmen came from similar backgrounds and developed mutual respect for each other.

"He was high on life," Jerry said about Merlen. "I still think about him and I guess I always will think about him, we were the best of friends."

Up until the end of his life, Debra said Merlen continued to go into work. Prior to the pandemic, he was in Geddes Street Market four days a week.

“He never wanted to retire, he was always looking for that next adventure,” she said. "He started to think about retiring in 2009, he never retired."

On Jan. 19, Merlen passed away at Gorves Hospital at the age of 88. Debra said her family received an outpouring of support from the community after the news of his death, which helped them through a difficult time in their lives.

“It’s helped me immensely by people writing letters, by the texts, and the phone calls and the cards, and I feel he’s still present within my life," she said.

Looking back on Merlen's life, Dale said he believed in people and wanted everyone to succeed.

"He did a lot of fantastic things for a lot of people and he never forgot where he came from."