Losing our heroes - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

Last week in this very newspaper, I wrote an editorial celebrating the lives of Ron Walker and Jack Ryan, two pillars of the community who passed on subsequent days, but I knew I wanted to do more.

 

I knew both men well. In regards to Ron, I had struck up a legitimate friendship. I had spoken with him a number of times for stories on the Blyth Festival Art Gallery, which he co-founded with his wife, Bev. I was (am) also a great fan of his art, which, to this day, I find so magical and unique to this community.

 

With Jack, we met at a time of transition for him and his children. Years before what would become the 2017 International Plowing Match (IPM), he was announced as the host, working alongside many neighbouring landowners to bring an event to Huron County many cherish to this day. As I spoke with him and his children, it became clear that hosting the IPM at Jack’s home farm was a direct tribute to his wife Marianna, whom he lost in 2012. 

 

My conversations with the Ryans were often very emotional, with nary a dry eye around the table (myself included), whereas with Ron, we were more inclined to discuss art over a glass of red wine or two, offered to me in a way that it would have seemed rude not to accept. They were different by miles, but no less impactful or resonant. My time spent with Jack and his children and with Ron and Bev sits among the time most well spent since I began my time with The Citizen all those years ago (2006).

 

And, as I said to a few people at Jack’s wake the other night, I learned a lot about love and being a father from Jack. His children so loved him and supported him in his later years, and it was clear that his love for Marianna burned as bright as it had when they were first married. 

 

The same can be said for Ron and Bev. As I would fawn over Ron’s paintings, Ron quickly pointed to Bev’s fabric and printmaking work, saying he was in awe of her talent. They were so in love that it was hard not to be envious.

 

And look at all they’ve given us. The Blyth Festival Art Gallery, dozens of works of art and a lasting legacy of creativity and education that will live on for generations in Huron County in the case of the Walkers and a tribute to agriculture and the very fabric of our community in the case of the Ryans. That is to say nothing of their personal achievements, such as their living legacies of children, grandchildren, careers and more.

 

At their core, however, both are love stories between two people who found their soulmates and built their lives around each other.

 

To me, the two families showed how to work to build up a community and its people, rather than tearing it down through negativity. The worlds of agriculture and art in Huron County are inextricably linked (at least in the minds of many) and those two communities had no bigger champions than they had in Jack and Marianna Ryan and Ron and Bev Walker.

 

These two families have enriched all of our lives, even if you weren’t lucky enough to know them. All that they’ve left behind has made life in Huron County better for us all.

 

The last thing I took away from losing Ron and Jack in two days was the pull to get involved. They stepped up and said yes when others would have slunk to the back of the room or said no when they were asked to help, so, perhaps that’s the legacy of their work and what they’ll truly leave behind. 

 

Think about all we have thanks to the work of these two families and what you can do to improve your community. Step up and speak up and consider making your home a better place just like Jack and Ron have.