A funeral service was held Oct. 29 in Kindersley, Sask., for the first farmer-elected chair of the Canadian Wheat Board.
Ken Ritter died Oct. 24 from brain cancer. He was 64.
The farmer, lawyer and teacher was first elected to the board in 1998 as a candidate in favour of a dual market. He represented District 4.
However, he changed his mind after he was elected and gained access to the board’s books. His fellow directors elected him chair in June 1999.
The current chair, Allen Oberg, issued a statement of condolence.
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“I was saddened to hear of Ken’s untimely death and extend my sympathies and the thoughts and well wishes of all CWB board members to Ken’s family and closest friends,” he said.
Ritter served on the board until March 2008 when his term expired.
He farmed in the Major-Superb area of west-central Saskatchewan, practiced law and taught school in Canada and Australia.
Adrian Measner, the former CWB chief executive officer and now CEO of Mission Terminals, said he remembers Ritter as an intelligent, articulate man and a hard worker.
“Ken took his role very, very seriously,” Measner said. “He wasn’t afraid to ask the tough questions and as a director that’s important.”
In the House of Commons, Wascana Liberal MP and former agriculture minister Ralph Goodale noted that Ritter was also active in Rotary and Kinsmen clubs and hockey.
Ritter was chair of the Saskatchewan Surface Rights Arbitration Board and helped design the province’s farmland security legislation in the 1980s. He was also a commissioner on the National Transportation Agency.
“Intellectually rigorous, with a passion for honest debate, Ken was an innovator, always generating new ideas to better serve farmers,” Goodale said.
Ritter is survived by son Ramon, daughters Felice and Nicole, their spouses, eight grandchildren, two former wives, two brothers and two sisters.
