Calgary has lost a friend, one of its most successful entrepreneurs and one of its greatest philanthropists. Calgary businessman, community leader and former CFL football star John Forzani died in a Palm Springs, Calif. hospital after being on life support following a heart attack or stroke. “It’s a real sad time,” said Joe, his brother. “It’s unbelievable what he accomplished in 67 years. Astronomical. It’s a sad day.” John Forzani was at the Eisenhower Medical Center. Forzani, 67, was a founder of The Forzani Group, the company he ran for many years, and is a minority owner of the Calgary Stampeders, the CFL team with which he won a Grey Cup in 1971. “He was without oxygen for a period of time which caused severe injury to the brain,” said Tom Forzani. He is survived by his wife Linda and grown children Mike and Jodi. Tom Forzani said his brother was extremely intelligent. “He had a drive. He had a drive that led him to play professional football and then after professional football he had that drive and continued to be good at something,” he said. “And then he not only became good but he became great. He actually told me some day he would be great. Way, way back in the day. And he fulfilled it. I believe he followed that path that he was going to be successful.” Calgary Stampeders president Gordon Norrie said it is clearly a sad day for the Canadian Football League team as Forzani contributed significantly as a player and an owner. “I have no doubt that the Stampeders wouldn’t be the organization they are today without his efforts and dedication with himself and his partners,” said Norrie. “It’s a very, very sad day for all of us . . . I’ve known John for 30 years. He always took the time to talk to everybody. He was such a sincere individual. He was always so very, very positive. I never heard the man utter one single negative comment about anything or anybody. A very uplifting individual to be around. Very generous . . . One of God’s good ones.” Former business partner, football teammate and long-time friend Basil Bark said John Forzani had an exceptional memory and grasp of things and although hard-nosed, and tough on the outside, he was soft inside as witnessed by his philanthropy. “All you have to do is go to the Foothills Hospital and see the Forzani Colonoscopy Centre and all the (Mother’s Day) road race funds that were raised all went to the health centre, the health trust,” said Bark. “The Forzani Foundation is still in tact in place and is run by very capable people. I am sure that in his memory that is going to continue. “We’ve lost an icon. We’ve lost a tremendous person.” Ken King, president and chief executive of the Calgary Flames, said he was “crushed and devastated” by the news. “This is a beautiful man. A beautiful person,” he said, adding that he has been thinking of Forzani and his family every minute of the day. “Very few people fall into this category. The city lost a friend of the community. A friend of the city. Like friends lose friends the city lost a friend. And I mean that in the sense that everything he did . . . was done from a pure spot. He just wanted to do nice things, important things, valuable things for the benefit of those people and the community.”

Bob Sartor, president and chief executive of Big Rock Brewery, who formerly worked with Forzani at FGL, said he once asked him about the 37th Annual Sport Chek Mother’s Day Run & Walk. “He said the inspiration for the road race was the death of his father when he was very young and the fact that on Mother’s Day it was the three boys and her. As I got to know him better, I realized he did these kinds of things. There was stuff he did that nobody knew about,” said Sartor. “I remember one time he said to me ‘you know Bob you can’t take it with you. It feels good to share’. “A guy who was generous to a fault. He was a big risk taker and really an innovator. He had a vision that was not only national but it ultimately became partly global with sales, of wholesaling, into the U.S. and other countries. He was a risk taker and he’s the kind of guy that builds a city, builds a province as a businessman.” Calgary businessman Doug Mitchell, who has known Forzani for many years, said he was a great person and has been a great contributor to the community for a number of years. “He’s given back a lot,” said Mitchell. “He’s been a very, very successful business person and he’s not hesitant to share his success with the overall community and its people. “He had good business sense and I don’t care how smart you are, if you don’t have good business sense it’s very difficult. He had a combination of both.” Rafela Grossi, executive director of the Calgary Italian Cultural Centre, said Forzani, whose family grew up in the nearby Bridgeland community, used to come for lunch at the centre. “He was very kind and involved in the community,” said Grossi. “He was a very down to earth, humble man.” Tony Spoletini, co-owner of Spolumbo’s and a former professional football player, said the Forzani family were well-known in the Bridgeland community when he was growing up. “John, Tom and Joe were our idols. They were from Bridgeland. They were professional football players. They were like the role models for all us kids, especially Italian kids growing up,” said Spoletini. “Those guys were just like us. Their parents were immigrants like ours . . . Those guys were heroes not only for Calgary but especially for us Italian boys in Bridgeland. “We just lost a very, very generous, very kind, very understanding man. He was just a bright man who kind of got it, was very giving. If you would go and talk to him, he would give you advice on business or life or charity or sports. And an honest man. He didn’t sugar-coat anything. He had a good heart and he was always there for you. We’re just losing a great, great person.” Forzani, a member of Calgary’s Business Hall of Fame, opened his first store, Forzani’s Locker Room, in 1974 with brothers Tom and Joe and friend Basil Bark, all Stampeders’ teammates. John Forzani, an offensive lineman, played five seasons with Calgary.