Ron Warder has died at the age of 64. He passed away early Wednesday morning, April 11th, 2018 at Royal Jubilee Hospital with his family. Ron passed from complications of Parkinson's, diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease.
Ron retired from the Sooke School District in June 2013, after a 33 year career. He retired from the position of Assistant Superintendent. Prior to that, Ron was Director of Instruction, Principal of John Stubbs, Principal of David Cameron, Principal of Happy Valley and Vice-Principal at Willway, Happy Valley and Sangster. He started his teaching career at Ruth King. He was President of the Sooke Teachers' Association from 1985-90; he bargained the first collective agreement for the teachers' union in the district. Many of the basic rights afforded to teachers nowadays (such as seniority) were directly a result of Ron's work over those many months of bargaining.
Born and raised in Esquimalt, Ron, also known as Captain Canada, attended Esquimalt Secondary where he was class President. He often spoke proudly of his Esquimalt upbringing. Aside from the education sector, Ron was an active political leader in both the municipal and provincial levels. In his twenties, Ron was elected Alderman in Esquimalt from 1980-85 and later Mayor of Esquimalt from 1987-90.
A Celebration of Life will be held in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens in Royal Oak - 4665 Falaise Drive on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be directed to the charity of your choice or to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Diabetes Canada, The Kidney Foundation of Canada, or to Parkinson's research.