Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
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Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Querney family first came to Sudbury, Ontario in 1937 from Toronto, Ontario due to Ernest T. Querney's new position as Manager of the Northern Electric Company Limited. Ernest & Marjorie Querney's son Alan Querney was born November 3, 1929 in Toronto. After growing up in Sudbury, Querney graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1954 with an Honors degree in Business Administration. In 1957, he became a Chartered Accountant and in November of that same year, Querney began working in the lumber industry at WB Plaunt & Son Limited/Austin Lumber (Dalton) Limited. Querney married Shirley Richmond in London, Ontario in 1954. They had four children, Tom, John, Susan and William [Bill].
In 1972, Bill Muirhead, a family friend, sold his family's business (Muirhead Stationers Limited) to Querney. After Alan Querney's sons graduated university, they became co-owners of the business as well. Tom Querney (trained in economics, Chartered Accountant) became the general manager, Bill Querney (McMaster, Commerce Degree) the furniture warehouse manager, and John Querney (Laurentian, Commerce Degree) the sales manager of the office furniture section.
Alan Querney was very active in the community. Querney was a member of the Laurentian University Board (Chairman, 1987-1990), the Board of Regents at Huntington College (Chairman), the Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce, the Sudbury and District Chartered Accountants Association, the Sudbury Algoma Sanitarium (Secretary-Treasurer), the Sudbury and District Hospital Council (Chairman), Idylwylde Golf and Country Club (President), the Ontario Lumber Manufacturer's Association, St. Andrew's United Church Council and Finance Committee, and a member of the Board and Treasurer of St. Andrew's Place Inc. Querney received numerous awards in the community including becoming an Honourary Fellow of Huntington University (1977), receiving an Honourary degree of Doctor of Sacred Letters from Huntington University (1982), elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (FCA, 1985), awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada (circa 1992), receiving an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Business Administration from Laurentian University (1996), received the President's Award from the Sudbury and District Chamber of Commerce (along with his sons, 1998), and elected a Life Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (1999). He was also recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Sudbury in 2000 for charitable contributions. Alan Querney retired around 2002 and Tom Querney became President of Muirheads.
In May 2005, the Querney family sold Muirheads to Grand & Toy, an OfficeMax company. They became the largest commercial office products company in Northern Ontario.
In 2009, John and Bill Querney decided to leave Grand & Toy and start their own office supply business. Querney's Office Plus opened to the public at 67 Elm Street (right beside the former location of Muirheads), Sudbury, Ontario on July 19, 2010 with the grand opening celebration on October 21, 2010.