Ronald John Hayter (July 30, 1936 – April 21, 2018) was the longest-serving city councillor of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, having served since 1971 until

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, when he stepped down to join the

National Parole Board The Parole Board of Canada (french: Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons i ...

. He returned to council during the 2001 civic election, was re-elected in the 2004 and 2007 civic elections, and retired in 2010. During his tenure, he spearheaded people-friendly development such as the Shaw Convention Center, the LRT, waste recycling programs, preservation of the River Valley wilderness, and promotion of arts and especially sports events that helped turned a modest oil and agriculture city into a world class capital. He was proudest though, of his lifelong efforts to promote the rights of, and create reconciliation with, First Nations communities.

Background

Hayter was born in Northern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

on July 30, 1936, to Vera Smith Hayter of

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 census, Regina had a city populatio ...

, and Raleigh "Slim" Hayter, of Murray Hill,

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. Raleigh was then a Saskatchewan

lumberman Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

who later lived as a trapper in Northern Alberta on the Little Berland River until his death in 1984. Ron was the oldest of six boys, all raised in the

lumber camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

at Akosane, Saskatchewan. They were a poor family. His father was opposed to school, and Hayter didn't get the chance to attend school until age 12 when his father was incarcerated for illegal deer hunting. He nevertheless graduated at 18 and went to work for Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray as a reporter for the ''

Alaska Highway News ''Alaska Highway News'' is a weekly newspaper serving Fort St. John, the North Peace River region, and Dawson Creek in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The paper was founded in 1943 by Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray and has been owned since 2 ...

''. When he was 22, in 1957, he got a scoop about the collapse of the

Peace River Suspension Bridge The Peace River Suspension Bridge was a bridge near Taylor, British Columbia, Canada, crossing the Peace River. It opened in 1943 and collapsed on October 16, 1957, with no injuries or fatalities recorded.Edmonton Journal''. The night his first child was born, he appeared live on the CBC quiz show ''

Front Page Challenge ''Front Page Challenge'' was a Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth (of the comedy team of Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth) and produced and aired by CBC Television, the se ...

'' to discuss this story. Hayter later became a correspondent for ''Time'' magazine. An amateur boxer and baseball player in his youth, he went on to sit on international sporting bodies IAMBA and the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

(WBA), and headed the Canadian

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

body for many years. He was a judge at some world heavyweight bouts and helped bring baseball to the Summer Olympics. In 2006, he was inducted into the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

and was also in the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. He served as president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Former Prime Minister

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

hired Hayter as an advisor to help create

Sport Canada Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportuniti ...

. He received the Vanier Award and the Queen's Jubilee Medal for community service. Hayter was married to Grace Jacqueline (Jac'y) Bacon Hayter who predeceased him in 2005, and was the father of four children, the writer Sparkle Hayter, Sandra Hayter, Nevin Hayter, and Hudson Hayter, who died in infancy. He was the nephew of the late bush pilot and aviation pioneer Henry W. "Harry" Hayter, who is in Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. Hayter was diagnosed with

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

in his later years and died of pneumonia on April 21, 2018, in St. Albert, Alberta, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayter, Ron 1936 births 2018 deaths Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian magazine journalists Deaths from pneumonia in Alberta Edmonton city councillors Politicians from Regina, Saskatchewan 20th-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians