Randle Jones died in Coquitlam, B.C., on Dec. 19 at the age of 89. He founded Windsor Building Supplies in 1969, Jones grew that first Windsor store in Surrey, B.C., into a 52-store chain in Canada—plus four stores in Washington state and one in Montana. He was predeceased in 2017 by his loving wife and business partner, Fran, after 60 years of marriage.
After studying business at the University of British Columbia, Jones got a job at Stewart & Hudson Lumber Co. in his hometown of Victoria in 1952. He later bought the company before coming up with the idea for Windsor Building Supplies, which he grew mostly on the franchise model.
Windsor is known for specialty wood products and also sells lumber, hardware, doors, floors and mouldings. He and Fran founded the Windsor Plywood Foundation many years ago, with projects chosen by the individual stores. It has given tens of millions of dollars to worthy causes in B.C. and western Canada.
“This is very sad news for the Jones family and all the industry people involved with the Windsor Plywood group of companies,” said Thomas Foreman, president of the BSIA of B.C. “Randy was a great leader and mentor to many in our industry and will be dearly missed by all.” Jones is survived by three children and numerous grandchildren.
