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Obituary: Former Esquimalt mayor Ron Warder helped direct schools

Former Esquimalt mayor and Sooke school district assistant superintendent Ron Warder has died at 64.
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Ron Warder died April 11, 2018, at age 64.

Former Esquimalt mayor and Sooke school district assistant superintendent Ron Warder has died at 64.

He died Wednesday at Royal Jubilee Hospital, with his family at his side, from complications of Parkinson’s, diabetes, kidney disease and heart disease.

Warder retired from a 33-year career in education in 2013. He began as a teacher at Ruth King Elementary, and as president of the Sooke Teachers’ Association from 1985 to 1990 helped to negotiate the district teachers’ first collective agreement.

He went on to become a vice-principal and principal, and eventually served as president of the Sooke Principals’ and Vice-Principals’ Association.

Warder was born and raised in Esquimalt and attended Esquimalt High School, where he got his first taste of politics as student president. He was elected to Esquimalt council in 1980 while in his 20s, and served as mayor from 1987 to 1990.

He earned the nickname Captain Canada as a high school student, said longtime friend and colleague Jim Cambridge, the current superintendent of the Sooke district. The alter ego was “a symbol of Canadian identity,” according to a 1971 edition of the school newspaper.

Cambridge said that those who encountered Warder were often treated to his dry wit. “He was an extremely funny guy and had a great sense of timing, as well.”

Warder was an excellent public speaker and had a particular gag that he liked to try on audiences, Cambridge said.

“He’d have somebody phone him while he was at the podium, and he’d pull out his phone and pretend he was talking to Jean Chrétien or whoever the premier was at the moment. He’d say no, he was too busy to talk.”

Cambridge said Warder was dedicated to his work and other activities.

“He was a super-active guy, he was like a 16-hour-a-day person,” he said. “He would just commit to things.

“When he was doing politics or if he was doing work at the school board here or as a school principal, it was like all-in all the time.”

Cambridge said he and Warder, whom he described as a “real family man,” had lunch a number times in the past few months.

“It was find of funny if you knew this guy as the consummate politician and professional for him to be so ga-ga over his granddaughter’s pictures and things like that,” he said. “It was really neat to see.”

Warder is survived by his wife, Chris, and children Sarah and Nick.

A celebration of life will be held April 21 at 2 p.m. in the Sequoia Centre at McCall Gardens in Royal Oak.

jwbell@timescolonist.com