A local man's efforts in business and philanthropy have been honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.

Eldon McIntyre has been running his company, Jarrod Oils Ltd., since the 1970s.

After 50 years of leading the industry here in Saskatchewan, he was nominated for the prestigious jubilee medal in recognition of not only his business acumen but his strong leadership role as an example to those in his field and in the province as a whole.

"I kind of think we're ahead of a lot of people even though we're a small company," said McIntyre. "We just do things quite a bit better than the big companies do. We've survived for 50 years, through the ups and downs in the oil business, which is hard to do, and things are going great these days."

That's Mcintyre's explanation for why he thinks they have been recognized for this award.

At 81 years young, McIntyre has been operating in the southwest part of Saskatchewan for a long time now and has been a large proponent of giving back to the area.

"We give money anonymously," said McIntyre. "We set up a foundation and we send kids to college every year to the tune of $250,000. We give out every year to kids going to college and what they have to be going in for is to be doctors and or nurses [to qualify]."

McIntyre was born in Hazlet, Saskatchewan. Growing up, his father passed away when he was only six years old, from a heart attack. Ilness would plague his family throughout his life, claiming his sister before he was born at the age of five with spinal meningitis. His brother passed away at the age of 35 due to diabetes. Even his mother had health problems, suffering from severe arthritis.

It is perhaps in a small part due to these influencial moments in his life, that McIntyre's foundation, the McIntyre Family Foundation, has made generous donations to medical organizations. They have donated to the Cypress Regional Hospital, the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital, as well as other contributions to the medical field over the years. He was honoured for his major contributions in 2016 when he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

Over the years McIntyre has been involved in a variety of oil-based companies, including the likes of Strike Energy, Genesis Exploration, Celtic Exploration, and Kelt Exploration. Suffice it to say he has played a major leadership role in this venture with his decades of experience and success.

McIntyre is amongst 70 other recipients of the jubilee medal from all over Saskatchewan.