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Posted: December 24, 2023

Ron Peters lived life on his own terms

By Stephanie Stevens

I have tried to sit down to write about Ron Peters more times than I can count since his passing.

And each time I have had to walk away. I justā€¦ couldnā€™t do it. But it is nearly Christmas, and he has been quietly smiling at me from the back of my mind for days.

This Christmas will be Elizabeth, Tammy and Nicoleā€™s first without him. And ours as well.

There are some people who are just meant to be there, because they always have been, quietly doing their thing, gently helping others, a smile never far from their lips.

If you have lived here for any true length of time, you went to the Toby Theatre. And if you grew up here, you knew Ron and Elizabeth as first Mr. and Mrs. Peters, and later, if you were so bold, by their first names. And chances are, even if you were not close, you were stopped in your tracks when Ron passed this May.

But letā€™s back up a bit, over to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, where Ron was born and raised on a farm.

While his family roots were in agriculture, Ron had an adventurerā€™s heart, so after graduation, he headed first to Winnipeg, then to Calgary where he found a temporary job within 24 hours, but later moved to AGT.Ā  It was there he met the love of his life, Elizabeth, a beautiful, shy young secretary at St. Francis High School.

A flood in the basement of the school had taken out all the phones at the school, and AGT came in to replace them. By the end of the week, Ron had convinced his shy future bride to go to a movie with him.

They saw Kellyā€™s Heroes.

And with Ron, shy, reserved Elizabeth encountered many firstsā€¦her first ice cream float, her first pizza, the biggest chocolate dipped cone from Dairy Queen that she ever ate and her first and lifelong love.

A proposal of marriage came four months later, on Christmas Eve.

Six months later they were married, and enjoyed a honeymoon in a cabin at Lake of the Woods, thanks to a generous wedding gift from dear friends.

Elizabeth finished her studies at SAIT on June 25 and married on June 26. Ron and Elizabeth moved to the Columbia Valley and bought the Toby Theatre from Steve and Kay Capowski in November 1971.

The little apartment above the Toby wasnā€™t ready to live in yet, so the young couple stayed in a little summer house in Radium Hot Springs. That lasted until they woke up one January morning with eight inches of frost on their bedcovers. Ron, always ready to get done what needed to be done, said that was the last night they would spend there, and true to his word, into the Toby they moved.

Literally.

With the apartment above the theatre under renovations, they hauled an old camp mattress from the basement and Ron built a little wooden platform for it that sat on five gallon coconut oil buckets. Every night they set up their bedroom after the theatre closed, and every morning they disassembled it.

Eventually the apartment was ready for them to move in. Just in time, with them welcoming first daughter Tammy in October 1972. Nicole followed in November 1976.

There was never an excess, Elizabeth told me, but they had what they needed, and if a busy social life was not in the cards with the theatre open seven days per week (for over 17 years), the impact on the community was steadfast, much more than just with movies.

Ron was always ready to help out where he could, offer a hand when needed and an ear when that was more in line. He was always a champion for his wife and daughters to know and realize their worth and equality.

Having grown up in an atmosphere that was less than encouraging to her, Ron always made sure to inspire Elizabeth. He told her she was capable of anything, and when the ancient crumbling curtains in the theatre could take no more due to coal dust damage, Ron smiled, looked them up and down, and said ā€œHon, I know you can make new drapes.ā€

Six hundred pleating hooks and 100 yards of fabric later, the old curtains were gone and sure enough, Ron was right.

Those curtains are still there today.

As Nicole said, ā€œhe was smashing the patriarchy long before it was fashionable.ā€

While his family and the theatre were foremost for Ron, his next true passion was flying.

Further showing Elizabeth she was capable of anything, he stopped by Springbank Airport on one of their regular trips to Calgary for theatre supplies.

ā€œWe had been listening to the radio and there was a story about a man who had a heart attack while flying and his wife was able to land them safely,ā€ she recalled. ā€œWhen we stopped at Springbank, I just thought he needed to talk about scheduling a required safety inspection.ā€

When Ron came back to the van a few minutes later, he opened her door and with a grin, told her to hop out, he would pick her up laterā€¦ after her first flying lesson. And so, Elizabeth learned to fly, at first in case she ever needed to take the stick, but soon for the pleasure of it.

Nicole also learned to fly in Ronā€™s second plane, a Comanche 180 when she was a teenager.

In the sky or on the ground, Ron had an impact.

Countless valley kids had their first job at the Toby, Ron patient and willing to teach them the ropes, quietly protecting them from any possible customer disgruntlement the same way he protected his own girls.

Ever the Renaissance man, Ron was an early techie, building the computer programs for the ticket booth and concession booth to track sales and inventory.

When the technology finally surpassed what the Tobyā€™s projectors could handle, Ron and Elizabeth quietly shut the doors, posted a farewell on the marquee, and an era, quite literally, ended.

Ronā€™s fight with cancer ended the same way he lived his life. On his own terms, with his beloved Elizabeth by side.

He chose his birthday, so ā€œthere would only be one sad day next year.ā€

How typically thoughtful of him.

I will still grow an extra row of beets each year (beet greens were his favourite treat) and though this year I didnā€™t have my own proper garden, next year I will, one way or another.

And Ron, I know some way, somehow you can hear me when I write these words and speak them in my heart: you were right. Elizabeth is fine, she is as strong as you believed her to be. I see her often, and while I know some days are hard, I see her beautiful face walking each day, your final gift by her side. If I donā€™t look too close, I sometimes think I can still see you beside her. We will be here for her if ever she needs us, I promise.

She told me there will be a memorial bench in your honour put up by the Kinsmen Club of Windermere Valley. So much of what you quietly did for our community went by unsung over the years, but not, it would seem, unnoticed.

I know you are soaring in the clouds once againā€¦ I hope you are keeping that mischievous eye on us.

Merry Christmas, Ron.

Sending much love,

Stevens.


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