Chester Alvin Ronning (December 13, 1894 – December 31, 1984) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

educator, politician, and diplomat. Ronning was born in Fancheng, China, now in

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

Hubei province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, the son of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

missionaries, and graduated from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

in 1916 with a B.Sc.. Ronning's family moved from China to the

Peace River country The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, ...

of Alberta. Halvor Ronning, Chester's father was instrumental in establishing a Norwegian settlement north-west of Grande Prairie called Valhalla Centre. When Chester Ronning started his studies at the University of Alberta, he travelled by horse from Valhalla Centre to Edmonton along the

Edson Trail Edson may refer to: Places Canada * Edson, Alberta United States * Edson, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Edson, South Dakota, a ghost town * Edson, Wisconsin, a town ** Edson (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community People Giv ...

. This was the only "road" connecting the Peace country to the provincial capital. In later years the

Northern Alberta Railway Northern Alberta Railways was a Canadian railway which served northern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Jointly owned by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, NAR existed as a separate company from 1929 until 19 ...

(now part of Canadian National Railway) was constructed. He returned to China to serve as a missionary from 1922 to 1927 and then returned to Alberta where he took up a position as Principal of the

Camrose Lutheran College Augustana University College was a Lutheran college in Camrose, Alberta, Canada, from 1910 until it merged in 2004 with the University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public re ...

, a position he held for 15 years. In 1942 he submitted a master's thesis to the University of Alberta's College of Education entitled "A study of an Alberta Protestant private school: the Camrose Lutheran College, a residential high school." He was a member of the

United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...

and on October 25, 1932, he was elected in a by-election for Camrose. From his entry into the legislature, he was an outspoken adherent of the newly formed Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party. He was defeated in the 1935 provincial election that wiped out the UFA government. He was leader of the

Alberta CCF The Alberta New Democratic Party (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Alberta), commonly shortened to Alberta's NDP, is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. It is the provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Demo ...

from 1940 to 1942. The 1940 Alberta election saw no CCFers elected despite winning 11 per cent of the vote. Ronning stepped aside as leader in favour of Elmer Roper, who won a 1942

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to become Alberta's first elected CCF MLA. Ronning ran unsuccessfully for the CCF in the 1945 federal election in the riding of Camrose, losing to the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

candidate,

James Alexander Marshall James Alexander Marshall (September 16, 1888 – June 30, 1977) was a secretary, teacher and a Canadian federal politician. Born in Ireland, Marshall came to Canada in 1912. Marshall first ran for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the ...

. Ronning served in diplomatic posts in China (1945–1951),

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

(1954–1957),

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(1957–1964) and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He also participated in the international commissions on Korea (1954) and Laos (1961–62) and undertook special missions to Hanoi (1965–66) in attempts to mediate the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In 1967 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1972. He was inducted into the

Alberta Order of Excellence The Alberta Order of Excellence (french: Ordre d'excellence de l'Alberta) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Lynch-Staunton granted royal assent to the Alberta O ...

in 1983. The legacy of Ronning continues with the ''Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life'' at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus in Camrose, Alberta. The Centre exists to facilitate interdisciplinary research, critical teaching, ethical reflection, and public programming on a range of issues in which religious communities, practices and ideas are directly implicated, or on which thoughtful religious perspectives might be brought to bear.

References

* * * * * Chester Ronning, ''A Memoir of China in Revolution: From the Boxer Rebellion to the People's Republic'' (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974). * Brian L. Evans, ''The Remarkable Chester Ronning: Proud Son of China'' (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press; Camrose: Chester Ronning Centre, 2013). *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ronning, Chester 1894 births 1984 deaths Alberta Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MLAs Alberta CCF/NDP leaders Ambassadors of Canada to China Ambassadors of Canada to Norway Ambassadors of Canada to Iceland High Commissioners of Canada to India Companions of the Order of Canada Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Canadian people of Norwegian descent United Farmers of Alberta MLAs Canadian Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in China University of Alberta alumni Settlers of Canada Academics in Alberta Canadian university and college chief executives People of the Korean War People of the Vietnam War Canadian Christian socialists Lutheran socialists