Dickie, then Dick, then Richard was born in a small remote northern town in Manitoba. By the time he was three; he had a new step-mother and brother and was living in a small town in Northern Ontario, Canada. He came under the foster care of a childless couple in the community- a prominent leader in the region, while serving as a go-fer for the local house of ill repute. From these humble beginnings, he always wondered at how he, this small town boy from Northern Ontario, could eventually become a "Captain of Industry" and one of the original "Mad Men" of Advertising in the late 1960's in New York City. This is his story...it started as a project after he retired, mostly focussing on the funny stories in his work life. As time marched on, (25 years in the making), his book included stories of his formative years, time in the Canadian Navy in WWII, University days, his family, his beloved Silver Islet and his faith. Dick started his business career with the team and the company (Proctor & Gamble) that invented the "science" and tools of marketing research. He was present when marketers and the public were shifting from the use of radio and print to television. He figured out how to measure the impact and effectiveness of advertising and compare across mediums. He learned that innovation and filling perceived vacuums led to great opportunities. Over the course of his career - he helped save the Dick Van Dyke Show through the use of viewer research, walked the Red Carpet at the Oscars, provided input for the Grand Ole Opry, attended several Super Bowl Games as a VIP, testified at Congressional Committee hearings, and added to the bottom line for his clients and employers by saving or making millions of dollars, through a common sense approach based on real data. He was an able provider for his family of five children realizing the American Dream of moving into the upper middle class and retiring to Florida. This is when he started to compile his stories. The book includes his search for family and a mother replacement, his various summer jobs such as building Canada after the war - including blasting of the road bed for the Trans-Canada Highway and surveying for the Ontario Hydro electrical grid. Profiled are Dick's adventures in mining camps, with scallywags and Madame's, with Presidents of companies and in facing death a number of times. Though all his stories and his life, Dick loved to laugh and treasured the power of a good joke or story - well told. During his life in school, the Navy, University, in Business and with his family - he would hear the repeated refrain (usually when he was laughing at some absurdity) - "This is Really Serious Business"...Dick had his own opinion.
Richard Creighton was born in 1925 in The Pas, Manitoba. He died reluctantly in October, 2012. His father took Dickie with him when he left his birth mother. By the time that Dickie was three - he had a new stepmother and older step-brother -to be joined eventually by three half-siblings. Eventually he was cared for by a childless couple that had lived nearby and taken an interest in protecting and raising Dickie. Dick had several summer and part time jobs that provided him with experience and learning in construction, surveying, mining and retail operations. He joined the Navy near the end of WWII and availed of veteran support by obtaining his Business Degree from Queen's University in Canada. Dick married Mary Aldrich and they started their family, having five children. Once he joined Proctor and Gamble - first in Canada and then in the company headquarters in Cincinnati - his business career in marketing research took off. He worked with marketing services firms, advertising agencies and manufactures such as Warner Lambert, Calgon/Beecham. During his career, he served on national boards of directors and his impact was measured in the millions of dollars for his employers and clients. The family's adventures in camping in both the US and Canada led to them settling at Silver Islet - the Creighton summer home. After Dick retired from Beecham, he and Mary built in Florida. They spent the summers at Silver Islet Canada, and their winters in Florida. Dick lost his first wife after the loss of their adult daughter Jill, who was brutally murdered. Mary died of a broken heart 4 months to the day after Jill's passing. Dick later married again and after a struggle with Ethelyn's dementia, said goodbye to his second wife. She passed only a few months after Dick's eldest child's passing from cancer. Dick himself faced off against death and won several times over his lifetime. Dick passed away, peacefully in his sleep, on October 16, 2012.
