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Clair Cote Jr.

Clair Cote Jr. did not originally intend to enter real estate. He was finishing a degree at Mount Royal College in Calgary, in 1954, but to make some money, he sold real estate under his father, Clair Cote Sr., the first president of the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Claire Cote Jr. would follow in his father's foot steps, becoming president of the Board in 1974. The real estate son never returned to college, but instead, worked at his father's firm for six years, before founding his own company, Clair J. Cote Real Estate and Investments. His father actually worked at the company for a while until he died in 1962.

In 1964, Clair Cote Jr. founded P.J. Toole and Cote Real Estate Ltd, with Pat Toole. This firm that would become tremendously successful, opening 18 branch offices across the country, and employing nearly 500 people until the depression of 1981. During the depression, they closed many of their offices, but the company remained in business in Calgary.

Apart from his career in real estate, Cote was a family man. He married Kay in 1956, and had four children and eventually 10 grandchildren. One of his children, Robert, also went into real estate, working at his Clair's company in 1989. However, P.J. Toole and Cote Real Estate closed in 1992, and Robert moved on to RE/MAX Classic Real Estate.

For more information on Clair Cote Jr., read the Calgary Real Estate News article Second generation REALTOR® keeps success in the family in our feature article database.

References

Douey, Bryan. Second generation REALTOR® keeps success in the family Calgary Real Estate News, 24(31), August 3, 2006.

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