Edmonton Developer Irving Kipnes Dies at 90 After 65 Years Shaping the City

Irving Kipnes, the real-estate developer and liquor magnate who spent 65 years physically shaping Edmonton, died in the city on Oct. 19 of kidney failure at age 90. His $25-million donation in September 2025 to establish the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Institute was his final public act of philanthropy.

The number of Edmonton buildings bearing his name maps his influence: the University of Alberta's Dianne and Irving Kipnes Health Research Academy, the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Urology Centre, the CapitalCare Kipnes Centre for Veterans, and the forthcoming Oshry-Kipnes Jewish Community Centre. The five-storey Kipnes Lantern at Ottawa's National Arts Centre carries the name beyond Edmonton.

His footprint goes well past the named facilities. As owner of Delcon Development Group, which also ran developments in Calgary and Scottsdale, Ariz., Mr. Kipnes helped build much of south Edmonton.

"A lot of the south side of Edmonton would have been crafted in a way that Irv envisioned it, simply because he made it happen and was just determined over a longer haul," said Craig Corbett, a business associate and close friend of almost 20 years. "That's the real estate game in general, but he did it at scale."

Who benefited from the Kipnes foundation?

The family foundation contributed millions of dollars to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, University Hospital Foundation, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Citadel Theatre, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton Opera, the Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton, and Beth Shalom Synagogue, among others.

"If you just drive around Edmonton, it's hard to drive for five minutes without seeing a building or an organization that has benefited from their time or generosity," Mr. Corbett added. He described Mr. Kipnes as a "boss, mentor and quasi-grandfather."

Mr. Kipnes leaves his daughters Rozanne and Ronee Kipnes, stepdaughter Kendra Walker, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his spouse of 36 years, Dr. Dianne Kipnes, and his son Harry.

What drove him?

Business and philanthropy, nothing else. "He didn't have any hobbies," Ms. Walker said. "There was no sudoku. There was no music."

Dr. Kipnes, who earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Fielding University in Santa Barbara, Calif., was the "impetus for their support for the arts," according to Mr. Corbett, a former board chair of Edmonton Opera. "Irv and Dianne had an awesome partnership in life, business and philanthropy."

Giving extended to his social circle. "To be associated with him, you had to be a giver," said lawyer and business partner David Margolus, who met Mr. Kipnes at age 28 while representing Delcon. "If you were involved with him and you had a cause and he was close with you, he would want to give to that cause."

Mr. Margolus, now 76, recalled his client's fastidiousness with legal documents. "He was the only client then, and the only client to this day that would read every line," he said. "I learned more law from him than I did in law school."

How did he build his empire?

Mr. Kipnes was born in Calgary on Sept. 10, 1936, to Harry and Rose Kipnes, Russian-Jewish immigrants who fled antisemitism from territory in modern-day Ukraine. At 18 he moved to Edmonton to study chemical engineering at the University of Alberta, then worked for Imperial Oil. In 1962 he entered real estate development.

"He got bored being an engineer," Mr. Corbett said. "He got a kick out of taking raw land and 10 years later, there's 4,000 families there."

After premier Ralph Klein privatized Alberta liquor sales in 1994, Mr. Kipnes founded Liquor Depot, which grew from one Edmonton store into a publicly traded North American chain, with locations from Kentucky to Alaska. "Irv could just see an opportunity and chase it," said Mr. Corbett, a former executive vice-president at parent company Liquor Stores N.A. When Mr. Kipnes retired from the board in 2014, its chair was Mr. Klein's former treasurer, Jim Dinning.

The 1994 rebound followed a rough stretch: in 1987, North West Trust, a fund he cofounded and led as president, was taken over by the Alberta government after losing millions on collapsing real estate values and defaulted mortgages, with the federal government providing $275-million in bailout funds.

What about politics?

Mr. Kipnes gave chiefly to the former Alberta PC party, with smaller sums to the UCP, Alberta NDP and Alberta Party, per Elections Alberta disclosures. Mr. Margolus likened his politics to Peter Lougheed's moderate Toryism. "Like every developer, you probably give to both parties," he surmised.

His closest political friendship was with former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, whom he met through a Jewish baseball league team he sponsored. "Irv was instrumental in me getting involved in politics and philanthropy. He's always thought that nobody should wander through life and not give back," Mr. Mandel said. After Mr. Mandel's daughter Rachel died of lymphoma in 2017, the Kipneses created the Rachel Mandel Lymphoma and Blood Cancers Research Fund with a $1-million donation matched by the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

Announcing his $25-million institute gift in September 2025, Mr. Kipnes set out his philosophy plainly: "My goal has always been simple: leave things better than I found them." The buildings, foundations and research funds bearing the Kipnes name across Edmonton suggest the goal was met — and will carry the name forward.