Former resident and 1979 Citizen of the Year, Ronald Yeats passed away on June 1 in Salmon Arm, B.C. with his family by his side. He was 82.
Once a travelling salesman, Yeats’ life was forever changed when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the age of 44. This forced him into retirement from paid work but after a brief period of adaptation, he realized he loved people far too much to sit idle.
When Yeats was introduced to swimming as a way of exercising and keeping active, he stumbled upon a passion that would sustain him for his remaining years. He became a dedicated volunteer, teaching many children and adults how to swim, even organizing new swimming programs for the disabled.
Yeats was also one of three founding members of the St. Albert Association for the Handicapped, and his work there helped ensure new buildings or existing infrastructure, including Fountain Park Recreation Centre and the city’s sidewalks, were developed or altered to maintain accessibility for people of all physical abilities. He was also a long-time member of Associated Canadian Travellers where he strove to raise money to improve the lives of disabled children.
Eldest daughter, Linda Love, explained her father’s love for people allowed him to turn a devastating disease into a glorious opportunity. After his retirement he tried to keep busy doing arts and crafts but it was far too solitary. Once he got into the pool and started to teach and help others, he had found his true calling.
“Next thing you know he was helping children and got involved with the school and started teaching lessons to the schoolchildren. It just kept evolving from there,” she remembered. “He was so involved in so many things.”
Love said it was this work that sustained him for so long.
“When he got MS, he started being with people all the time. He became so much more passionate about life.”
Energetic and vital, Love said her father never changed in his spirit and that made a lasting impression on her and the family as a whole.
“My dad was a gentleman to the core. He was a very, very strong man. Some people are born and they’re just caregivers. They try and take care of the world. That was my Dad.”
In 2008, Yeats lost Rena, his wife and best friend of 55 years. The gentle man was tough enough to overcome his body’s failings but being without her was too much for his soul.
“It was a marriage made in heaven, that one.”
He leaves three daughters, seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a legacy of selfless giving to the people of St. Albert.
