Kenneth Colin (K.C.) Irving (March 14, 1899-December 13, 1992) was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. He was Atlantic Canada's foremost entrepreneur of the 20th century and ranks as one of the world's leading industrialists. Today the Irving group of companies are owned and operated by his three sons, James, Arthur, and Jack, and their respective children.

As a youngster, K.C. Irving was viewed as a tough kid from a rough sawmill town on the Northumberland Strait. There are many accounts of his rough and tumble attitude in schoolyard fights. He began his entrepreneurial streak early, but this was tempered by the dawn of the First World War. K.C., along with several friends attempted to enlist but his father put an end to it by enrolling him at Acadia University - an association continues between this institution and the family to this very day. Irving left Acadia before graduation and took a cross-country adventure to British Columbia before returning to Bouctouche. His father did not oppose his second attempt to enlist and Irving entered the Royal Canadian Air Force as a fighter pilot, although he never saw action as the war ended shortly thereafter. Following the war, he returned home to Bouctouche and began a series of events that would change the course of history in the Maritimes forever.