Charles Helyar
Charles Murray Helyar (1909 - 1993) was a Canadian entrepreneur and founder of Furnasman, a heating company in Winnipeg, Manitoba and later in Vancouver.
Career
Helyar began his career in the heating industry in the mid-1930s in Winnipeg.
Furnasman in Winnipeg
Furnasman was incorporated in 1939. [2] Before the war, Flora's brothers Jack Currie and Clyde Currie worked for the company.
At that time, Winnipeg did not yet have natural gas service. Once natural gas became available, Helyar began manufacturing forced air furnaces, and by the 1950s Furnasman had captured approximately 90% of the heating market in Winnipeg. [1]
The company's original premises were located on Pembina Highway, not far from downtown Winnipeg. Later, Helyar purchased property in Fort Garry, which was then far outside the city on the bare prairies. The property on Seel Avenue (off McGilvray Avenue) was near a cemetery where many of the Currie family are buried. The first building housed offices and a large warehouse where furnaces were manufactured. A second building was later erected to house Seel Dow, another business Helyar founded that produced a new type of window. [1]
Helyar was a proponent of employee ownership, and several of his employees became shareholders over the years. His main business partner was Louis Dufaut, who eventually also moved to Vancouver. Other employee-shareholders included Brad Chalmers and Al Fraser. [1] [3] [4]
Expansion to Vancouver
Helyar had long intended to eventually move to the West Coast, and purchased a lot in Vancouver during the war, though he never built on it. A branch office was established in Vancouver, and Furnasman acquired property in a new industrial park in Burnaby where a building with offices and warehouse was constructed. [1]
In Vancouver, Helyar started Fire Hearth, a company that manufactured gas fireplaces. Fire Hearth sold and distributed fireplaces to builders, and also installed and serviced them. [1]
Helyar remained active in business for the rest of his life, ceasing only when he developed Alzheimer's disease. [1]
Business Succession
When Helyar moved to Vancouver, he sold the Winnipeg operations to shareholders Al Fraser and Brad Chalmers. Upon their deaths, their children inherited the business. Roger Fraser, Al's son, bought out Brad Chalmers' son around 2014 and continued to own Furnasman. [1]
Helyar retained ownership of the buildings and land in both Winnipeg and Vancouver throughout his life. After his death in 1993 and the settlement of his estate, his second family took the Vancouver property, while Neill, Susan, and Lillias inherited the Winnipeg property. In 2007, Lillias bought out her siblings' shares. In 2017, Roger Fraser purchased the Winnipeg property from Lillias. [1]
Note: The Furnasman company was later sold to Right Time Heating and Air Conditioning in 2014, and continues to operate in Winnipeg today. [5]
First Marriage
Helyar married Flora Currie (sister of his employees Jack Currie and Clyde Currie), with whom he had three children Lillias, Neill, and Susan. Neill was possibly named for Flora's brother Neill Currie.
The marriage ended in divorce sometime in the 1940s, which was uncommon at the time. The custody arrangement allowed Helyar visitation only on Saturday afternoons and for two weeks in summer, limiting his contact with his children during their youth. Once they reached adulthood, he developed significant relationships with all three. [1]
Second Marriage
Helyar married his second wife Anna Vidal around 1950; they remained together until his death in 1993, a marriage of 43 years. [2]
Anna was born on August 23, 1927, in Selkirk, Manitoba, and was of Icelandic heritage, with family roots in the Hnausa and Arborg areas of Manitoba. She met Charles while working at Furnasman in Winnipeg, and she was 10 years younger than his first wife. [2]
Charles and Anna had six children together:
- Andrea Helyar (died 1951, in infancy)
- Leora Fisher (married Arthur Fisher)
- Lesley Munch (married Jim Munch)
- Karl Helyar (married Ann Beardsell)
- Kristinn Helyar (married Tanya)
- Saranna Morley (died 2003)
Five of these children (excluding Andrea, who died in infancy) moved with Charles and Anna to Vancouver in 1967. [1] [2]
Charles's grandchildren through his second marriage include Andrew, Cameron, Leah, David, Markus, and Stefan. [2]
During the Winnipeg years, the family spent summers at Lake of the Woods, Ontario, and winters in Rancho Mirage, California. [2]
After Charles's death in 1993, Anna later remarried to Art Adamson, an old family friend. Anna died on June 30, 2011, after a battle with ovarian cancer. [2]
Move to Vancouver
In 1965, Neill Helyar and his wife moved to Vancouver, where he worked in the Vancouver branch. Susan and her husband followed in 1966. In 1967, Helyar relocated permanently to Vancouver with his second wife Anna and their five children, also bringing his mother. Lillias moved to Vancouver that same year with her husband and four children. [1] His first wife also moved to Vancouver in 1969, just prior to her death from cancer.
Sources
[1] Lillias Bjornson, emails in 2026
[2] https://vancouversunandprovince.remembering.ca/obituary/anna-adamson-1065314756
[3] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/236023142/louis-j-dufault
[4] https://habitantsandvoyageurs.blogspot.com/2011/01/
[5] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/furnace-repair-company-under-new-ownership-1.2866448