Ron Crawley

CRAWLEY, Ron Ron Crawley's heart stopped beating on the morning of March 27, 2008. It was a big heart that embraced all that was good and fair in this world. "A Distance Traveled", the title of Ron's unfinished memoirs, aptly describes his life's journey. In his formative years, Ron lived in the shadow of the steel plant where many family members of earlier generations and his own generation worked. As he said in his memoirs, he grew up in a company house in Sydney, Nova Scotia "with the sounds, sights, smells and feel of the steel mill. I woke up and went to bed with the sounds of the plant; the dumping of slag, the clang of the tie mill and the constant sounds of trucks and trains in and out of the plant. The sight of the belching smokestack was there whenever I looked out the window or went out the door. The smells of the burning minerals and gases from the mill and coke ovens next to the plant were ever present. Too much time spent outdoors and you could feel the grit in your hair and on your skin". For a playground, Ron and his friends used the tar brook and tar ponds, "black noxious goop that we actually tried to walk on after the hot July weather had hardened it around the edges". They would run through the fields near the coke ovens when the gases were released, "pretending it was London fog" and jump from the tops of the huge coal banks into the coal below, ending up covered from head to toe in coal dust. After graduating high school, he attended Xavier College in Sydney for a year. The following summer, he worked in the steel plant, but then the accumulated toxic exposures of the previous years took their toll when Ron developed a serious case of lymphoma, which very nearly claimed his young life. It was only the robustness of youth and his exuberant spirit that, after two incredibly difficult years, saved him from an early, tragic death. However, related bouts of ill health plagued him periodically for the rest of his life, but this was usually not noticed by others because of Ron's unfailingly optimistic attitude, good cheer and zest for life. Once he recovered, Ron transferred to Dalhousie University where he completed a BA Honours degree in Sociology and then 2 year later a Masters degree in Sociology. He went on to earn a Masters degree in Library Science at Dalhousie. During these years, Ron enthusiastically participated in a range of progressive student, social and political activities of the day. He traveled the province as an organizer for the Maritime Fishermen's Union. These and subsequent involvements helped to solidify Ron's strong sense of justice and his opposition to those forces that impede the potential of ordinary people. Ron then moved to Newfoundland, home of many of his ancestors. He worked as a librarian at Memorial University from 1983 to 1986. There he met the love of his life, Colleen Lundy, who was teaching Social Work at Memorial. Coming as she did from a Northern Ontario mining family, it is not surprising that Colleen shared Ron's values, beliefs and interests. These became the bedrock of a joyous, respectful and enduring partnership. From St. John's they moved to Ottawa, where Ron revitalized his earlier intellectual interests by embarking upon a Ph.D. in Sociology at Carleton University. His Ph.D. thesis focused on the workers at the steel mill in Sydney, showing that though he had traveled a great distance, Ron was really never very far from home. His degree was awarded in 1995. From 1993, Ron worked in Ottawa at the head office of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Canada's largest trade union, where he was a valued and respected member of their national research branch. His numerous research projects, which ranged from pensions, bargaining, contracting out and privatization to municipal affairs and politics, found their way into union policies at local levels, and served to improve the day-to-day lives of many thousands of CUPE members from coast to coast. His coworkers always held him in high esteem for his immense talents, skills, loyalty, friendship, sense of fairness and justice, and his incredible sense of humour, which never waivered even in the face of adversity. He will be remembered as a Brother to all CUPE members and staff and will have thousands of Sisters and Brothers who knew him and thank him for the contributions he made to the lives of working women and men. In 2003 ill health forced Ron to take a leave from his work at CUPE where he was sorely missed. Throughout his adult years, Ron pursued a great many interests, top among them being a passion for keeping up with and understanding social and political events and developments around the world. He was an avid reader on a vast range of topics. He took great pleasure in gardening/growing vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers. Ron also enjoyed cooking gourmet meals and serving them up to Colleen, friends and family. As much as anything, Ron loved talking with anyone and everyone, and they all reciprocated: his interest in them was genuine, he was down to earth, and he listened to what they had to say. Despite the advantages he enjoyed compared to others among his family and friends, Ron's heart, his soul never strayed from his working class roots. Ron was a man of the people. The distance he traveled expanded his horizons while deepening his appreciation for the struggles and hardships of others, not only those he knew from his childhood, but also those he had never met in other parts of the world. Ron was a person with strong, progressive principles that were sometimes controversial, but because of his gentle, earnest nature, he never invited or received harsh words from those who disagreed with him. Ron Crawley was the salt of the earth: modest, compassionate, generous, totally reliable, a true friend. He will be remembered with enduring respect by those who knew him even casually, and with profound love and gratitude by those who knew him well. Yes, Ron, you have indeed traveled a distance, and you have broadened the path for the rest of us. Ron was predeceased by his loving and beloved mother Delores and her parents, George and Angela (Flemming) Gushue and his father's parents, Pat and Bridget (Brophy) Crawley. He is survived by his devoted Colleen, his father, Ronald (Mary), his sisters with whom he was always very close: Elaine (Crawley) McDougall and Deborah (Crawley) Costello and Deborah's partner Gordon. His nieces and nephews - Kimberley, Angela, Ron and David - and his grandnieces and grandnephews - Hannah, Sarah, Abbigail, Brittney and David - will miss the uncle they so love. As will Hymmi Lundy, his feisty 95-year-old mother-in-law, his sister in law Helen Dube and her partner Gaston, nephews Allan (Nada), Wayne and niece Colleen (Ben) and grandnephews and grandnieces Daniel and Simon, Danielle, Sarah and Christopher. A Celebration of Ron's life will be held at the national office of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, 1375 St. Laurent Blvd. on May 10th at 2 p.m. Interment in Sydney, Nova Scotia on June 14th at 2 p.m. at the Resurrection Cemetery. If you wish donations can be made to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives or the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada.