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Spruce Meadows founder leaves Foothills legacy

An MD of Foothills councillor was willing to go out of his comfort zone to help a friend nearly four decades ago.
Spruce Meadows founder Ron Southern passed away at the age of 85 on Jan. 21.
Spruce Meadows founder Ron Southern passed away at the age of 85 on Jan. 21.

An MD of Foothills councillor was willing to go out of his comfort zone to help a friend nearly four decades ago.

“It was about the second show at Spruce Meadows in the 1970s and Ron Southern asked if I could announce the show,” said Division 5 Councillor Ron Chase with a laugh. “He told me I did a pretty good job, but there were plenty of people after me who did it way better.”

Ron Southern, who with his wife of 61 years, Margaret, established Spruce Meadows in 1975, died at the age of 85 on Jan. 21.

Chase, who is a former Calgary TV broadcaster, said the Foothills and the province will miss Southern.

“When I was in broadcasting there were a couple of times when Ron was at meetings that I was covering,” Chase said. “I didn’t know him particularly well then, but when I moved to the Foothills, I got to know him and his family really well.

“They are the most generous family that I have encountered and I am getting on in years.”

Southern founded Atco in 1947 with his father Samuel Donald.

Regardless of his wealth, Southern was as down to earth as they come.

“He was one of the best,” Chase said. “I remember when I sat down with him when they were just starting Spruce Meadows, he told me ‘If I handle this well, I hope someday the horse show would be so popular we might be able to get as many as 10,000 people to come.’

“Of course, it’s become much more than that.”

Spruce Meadows, where Ron’s daughter Linda Southern-Heathcott is CEO and president, opened in 1975 and is considered the top show-jumping facility in the world. Olympic champion Eric Lamaze and the legendary Ian Millar have competed at Spruce Meadows.

It’s also been a facility in which young Foothills-area riders like Reva Glass and Jasmine Wiggins have learned to take the reins in show-jumping competition.

Chase has been the councillor of Division 5 for the past 16 years, of which the Southern family is constituents.

“He was one of the most generous, far-sighted individuals that I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” he said. “He donated to the fire department the powerboat for rescue. They (Ron and his wife Margaret) have offered us a fire hall facility (near Spruce Meadows) which is being set up. They have always been quite willing to help the community… This is a real loss to Alberta.”

The MD of Foothills is home to Spruce Meadows -- even as the one-million-people-plus Calgary creeps further south.

“A few years ago, they (the Southerns) worked with us and the City of Calgary in doing what is called a reverse annexation to have all of the Spruce Meadows operation in Foothills,” Chase said.

Ian Allison, senior vice-president at Spruce Meadows, has worked at the famed facility for 40 years, starting in as a summer student while in high school.

“I travelled the world with the man,” Allison said of Southern. “And in no way trying to short-change my own father, I spent more time with Mr. Southern than my own father.

“It was time well spent, I travelled the world, I was inspired by him, challenged by him and very much enjoyed working with him.”

Allison said Southern was “just as comfortable speaking with heads of states and captains of industry as he was talking in a field here in the MD or a field in Germany talking about horses and the agriculture, people of the land.”

Southern has met the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev and just last summer Hon. Gov. Gen. Don Johnston. The Spruce Meadows founder remained a fixture there throughout his life.

“We were all saddened with Mr. Southern’s passing, but we were very pleased and had some sense of satisfaction that he was able to enjoy the 40th anniversary at Spruce Meadows and the things that went along with it,” Allison said. “The opening of the Founders’ Plaza, paying tribute to he and Mrs. Southern and all of the founding constituents.”

A statue of Margaret and Ron studying plans for Spruce Meadows in 1973 stands at Founders’ Plaza.

Southern was also able to enjoy an historic Masters tournament and for the first time ever see someone win the Rolex Grand Slam of Show-jumping.

“As recently as December he was able to enjoy the Spruce Meadow International Christmas Market in what had become his next vision and dream for the place — the Christmas lights for Spruce Meadows,” Allison said.

Southern received the Order of Canada in 1986. He and his wife Margaret Southern, who was born in High River and raised near Okotoks, were elected to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 for developing Spruce Meadows and their passion for show-jumping and the community. The flags at the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in Calgary were at half-mast last week to honour Southern.

“Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame is deeply saddened by the death of one of our inducted honoured members, Ron Southern,” hall of fame president Mario Siciliano stated in a prepared statement. “His passion for horse jumping and the equestrian sport led to the development of Spruce Meadows, one of the world’s foremost eventing arenas and training facilities in the world.”

A funeral for Southern will be held Thursday Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. at Spruce Meadows. Those wishing to pay respects may also do so at McInnis & Holloway (Park Memorial), 5008 Elbow Drive S.W. Jan. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m.

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