Frank Neshine, a retired air force pilot, had run the appraisal department with Aubrey Edwards. He continued in this capacity at Toole Peet until 1995 when management duties were passed on to Kathleen Sharp. Frank retired on the eve of the firm’s centennial year.

Kathleen Sharp and Rick Schleyer have maintained Toole Peet’s tradition of professional customer service in the appraisal division of the firm.

Property Management

Elayne had begun her career in the early 1980’s with a much larger property management firm. She later took time off but decided to go back to work in 1992. She only applied at one place, Toole Peet, and was hired. Coincidentally, the entire office was going through the struggles of a conversion to non-smoking at the time Elayne joined. Allergic to smoke, she considered quitting then decided to stay on when the office became non-smoking. Then, as property management was being restructured, she again made the choice to stay on. Elayne has a devoted respect for Larry Toole who she has seen go far beyond what was legally expected to ensure clients are fairly treated. "He does more than what he has to do according to the law - he always does the right thing," she says. In building the firm’s business, Fischer has carefully worked to establish the long-term confidence of tenants and owners. She insists properties be maintained according to a strict set of criteria and she has a loyal following of service companies and contractors who work long hours when required because they know she "pays every Friday". Today, Elayne Fischer, with the assistance of Shaun Hykaway, specializes in non-residential properties but also manages over 150 residences, small apartments, and strip malls throughout Calgary.

Elayne’s personal manner of conducting business is well - appreciated by property owners and by those in the office. As Shaun says, ”She runs the department like a family - just like my mom - she doesn’t discriminate in who she yells at!”

Dorothy Larson Today’s Real Estate Sales Manager

“I don’t know how you can go wrong with the right kind of people.”

Dorothy Larson, a study in positive energy, began her business career as a secretary, a path she followed for ten years, eventually becoming personal secretary and administrative assistant to the president of Mannix Co. Ltd. Knowing she could not progress further there, she joined Pat Toole at P.J. Toole & Cote where she spent the next 23 years. After she completed five years in sales, Pat Toole made her his sales manager, a position that suited her perfectly. Through the booms and the busts of the tumultuous Calgary real estate market, Dorothy Larson gathered a loyal and dedicated sales force that survived, while other real estate agencies came and went. She led her sales team safely through the storms of the National Energy Program, a disheartening time when homes were being sold just to keep ahead of the foreclosures; and the seemingly unending price declines of the early 1990’s when the whole country watched the Mulroney’s Conservative government fail to reach a political agreement with Quebec. She also demonstrated an equally important ability to handle the success of the good times. The ongoing fall in house prices of the early 1990’s combined with a period of ill health for Pat Toole and he was forced to sell the company. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t establish the same sense of commitment with the new owners and, after 18 frustrating months, she gave up her management position and was determined to set up her own agency.

Naturally calm, with an inspiring presence of orderliness and optimism, she organized a quiet whirlwind. Realtors who had worked with her at P.J. Toole & Cote rapidly joined her at Toole Peet. She brought the administration up-to-date with the procedures and policies that had been so successful for 25 years. From half the fourth floor, she expanded by taking over additional office space on the ground floor. Then, as her department’s revenue grew, she was able to persuade Larry Toole to let her consolidate by taking over the entire fourth floor which she redecorated. It is now a bright, accessible working area for 35 realtors, the number she believes is ideal in terms of meeting her goals of profitability without sacrificing the office’s personal atmosphere.

"Whenever I discuss our good fortune in having attracted Dorothy to our firm, I hear the comment ‘She’s the best.’ I think there are very few in the real estate community in Calgary who would dispute that," Larry comments on her reputation.
As proud as she is of her revitalization of the Toole Peet real estate agency, Dorothy takes more pride in the quality of the people she has working with her.

"I’ve always been very careful about recruiting. New recruits have to fit into the company. I want solid, steady producers and I don’t ever want to have to worry about my realtors shortcutting on integrity or service.

"Solid, steady producers are the kind of realtors that keep a firm going - in the good years and the tough years.

"I don’t know how you can go wrong with the right kind of people. If you treat your customers with respect, they’ll come back."

In restoring the department to profitability she has unconsciously followed in the footsteps of George Peet and Barney Toole who believed strongly in the long term value of investing in the city’s core areas. While her realtors are capable of serving clients throughout the city, Larson likes to maintain their focus on the firm’s main trading areas of the residential districts closest to downtown Calgary. "I believe in specialization."

Her financial arrangements with all the realtors are open to everybody’s scrutiny; she gives the same commission terms and benefits to every realtor. "They are all on the same scale." The realtors thrive and, as word gets out, other realtors approach her looking for an opportunity to join the firm. She chooses carefully.

As well as having earned the respect of her realtors and the entire Toole Peet office, she has gathered accolades from other realtors in the city who are now recognizing the value of the traditional office that she has restored. Whereas the trend over the last two decades has been towards offices where realtors operate as ‘independent contractors’, Larson has instilled a sense of teamwork in her office. Today, Calgarians are seeing more and more Toole Peet signs hanging on the front lawns of the city’s most beautiful homes.