* September 27, 1934, Tallinn
† July 16, 2003, Toronto
Arvo Niitenberg was the highest ranking executive among the many in the expatriate Estonian community, that worked for Hydro. He was the Senior Executive Vice President of Ontario Hydro in its glory days when Hydro had 25,000 employees, including 3,400 engineers. In 1974 he was the manager of the Lakeview Generating station, from there he advanced rapidly to the 19th floor of Hydro’s University Street prestigious head office.
When he was the V.P of Finance he frequently travelled to Europe dealing with bond issues and loans. He seemed to get along well with the “Gnomes” of Zürich, maybe too well, we now owe them billions. But we also have the electrical power to waste. Look around Toronto at night, he had vision.
The vision was later focused on the technical side, where he was most comfortable. The nuclear one? Yes. There would be plenty to say about that period, but when Ontario Hydro became more and more a political issue in Ontario, Arvo thought it was time to retire. Possibly, he saw in the distance the swamp that Hydro was heading for. So he accepted an offer to go to Estonia to help modernize power generation there - on loan from Hydro - for six months.
Despite his position, he did not step on the gas pedal when passing the Toronto Estonian House. He was concurrently active in at least three organizations: The Estonian Relief Committee, Estorada and the Estonian Business Club in Canada. He could have spent his spare time at the Granite Club instead!
The six month “Lend Lease” expanded to years. At the end of six months he officially resigned from Hydro and went back to Estonia where he was soon promoted to be minister of Energy in the newly independent Estonian government. Later on, he served in many positions, most notably being in charge of the clean-up of Paldiski and as an ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Having two homes separated by the ocean in more than the geographic sense gradually took its toll. He suffered a massive heart attack on a flight from New York to Frankfurt. From there on his health gradually deteriorated. It was sad to see - but, he never surrendered, to the last. During that time, in my mind I compared him to the great character Icarus, but I knew it was unfair. Arvo Niitenberg was only 68.
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