Patrick Morin, the founder of the eponymous hardware stores, died on Saturday, the company announced. He was 96 years old.

Mr. Morin and his wife, Denise Benny, opened their first hardware store in Sainte-Marcelline-de-Kildare, in the Lanaudière region, in 1960.

Since then, the little “lumberyard” has grown and the chain today has 22 branches in Quebec, which have been managed by the second and third generation of the Morin family.

The home improvement chain was then sold in February 2021, with Groupe Turcotte becoming the majority shareholder of the company, in partnership with Home Hardware.

“We continue to honor the values ​​of Mr. Patrick Morin which have always been at the heart of our existence,” the company underlined in a publication on social networks on Tuesday.

She called Mr. Morin “a pillar of the construction field in Quebec.”