Dr. Janet Gardiner
Dr. Janet Gardiner was a prominent business and community leader. During her career, Janet worked in the family business, Chester Dawe Ltd., founded in 1941. She was instrumental in growing the company from its origins as one retail location on the Avalon to one of the largest building supply chains in Atlantic Canada with eight retail locations, more than 400 employees and a large number of lumber yards and subsidiaries. During this period of growth, Janet occupied positions of treasurer and director. The company was sold to Rona in 2006.
Janet was very much a trailblazer being the first female chartered accountant in the province and the first woman to chair the Memorial University Board of Regents. She was a Fellow of the Provincial Institute of Chartered Accountants, received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Memorial University, was inducted into the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador and was invested into the Order of Canada.
Janet Gardiner sat on numerous boards and engaged with many community organizations. Those that knew her spoke of her strength, wisdom and kindness. Janet died in 2015.
She will join her father, Chester Dawe, in the Junior Achievement Newfoundland and Labrador Business Hall of Fame.