Ronald HAYTER

HAYTER, Ronald
July 30, 1936 - April 21, 2018
On April 21, 2018, with loved ones at his side, Ronald John Hayter passed away, peacefully in his sleep, and went to that Great Baseball Field in the sky. In his 81 years, he lived many lives and lived them fully. He began in poverty, raised in a primitive log cabin in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. He wasn't able to start school until he was 12, yet nevertheless graduated at 18 with the rest of his peers. He couldn't afford college so went to work selling encyclopedias door to door, becoming the leading salesman in his group (of course,) until he got a job with Ma Murray's newspaper in Fort Saint John, B.C. That led to a job with the Edmonton Journal, then the founding of his own news and public relations company, and to Edmonton City Hall where he served 33 years on City Council. He boxed in his youth, and played baseball most of his life, playing his last game the year he turned 70 and winning a medal at the World Masters Games in Edmonton. These passions translated into energetic activism promoting boxing and baseball, serving on world baseball and boxing bodies, judging world heavyweight fights, bringing major world tournaments to Edmonton, and helping to bring baseball to the Summer Olympics. He was most proud, and, humbled by his work promoting the rights of Canada's Indigenous peoples. If you stand outside in Edmonton and look around, you are looking at something touched by his hard work. Nobody worked harder for Edmonton than Ron Hayter. He was honored with the Vanier Award and the Queen's Jubilee Medal, and was inducted into the Canadian and Alberta Boxing and Baseball Halls of Fame.
He will be missed by many, most of all by his family and friends, as a loving father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, colleague, partner, and mentor. He is survived by his children: Sparkle, Sandra (Gary), and Nevin, by his partner and friend Sheila Cooper, by his grandchildren Jennifer (David), Emerson, and Renae, and great- granddaughter Aliyah, by his four brothers and their wives, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife Jacqueline (Jac'y) Hayter (nee Bacon), his son Hudson, his brother Harvey, his father Raleigh, and his mother Vera. His family and friends wish to thank Terry Demers, Gene Bacon, and the City of Edmonton for their support. We are very grateful to the Youville Home in St. Albert for their compassionate care of Dad in his final days.
We will honor his amazing life on Saturday, April, 28, 2018, 10:00 a.m., at North Pointe Community Church 14025 – 167 Avenue, Edmonton, AB.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Youville Home in St. Albert, 9 St Vital Ave, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada T8N 1K1.