The late Cor Van Raay is one of eight people to be given the province’s highest honour, being inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence.
“Our honourees have abundant strengths that have served our province well,” Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani said of the 2021 inductees. “These include great perseverance, a selfless commitment to giving back, and a steadfast focus on sharing their unique gifts and abilities in a way that enriches us all. I offer my heartfelt thanks to each of them for their remarkable contributions.”
Among the other inductees are veterinary medical researchers Barb and Merle Olson and Greg Powell, an emergency room physician who co-founded and led the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS).
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Van Raay was one of southern Alberta’s most prominent entrepreneurs who strengthened the agriculture industry and ensured the future of agribusiness through 50 years of innovation. A compassionate philanthropist and community builder, his generosity has improved the lives of countless Albertans.
He and wife Christine began farming in 1964 with 320 acres of land near Iron Springs. Initially, the farm struggled financially, but Van Raay worked in sawmills and oilfields to get through the hard times. In 1972, he began a feeding operation as well as growing beets, potatoes and grain.
Each successive feedlot was an improvement on the last as he implemented best practices and developed unprecedented efficiencies in his operations. The five feedlots he was managing were seen to be some of the best in the world. He diversified his operations to include farm implement dealerships and trucking operations along with beef processing and exporting. His entrepreneurial efforts continue even after he began the succession process for Cor Van Raay Farms, acquiring 35,000 acres in Saskatchewan.
A strong believer in business training he made substantial donations to Lethbridge College and the University of Lethbridge to jointly establish the Cor Van Raay Southern Alberta Agribusiness Program. He also gave to numerous other community and health organizations, including funding of trails, parks and community facilities.
He received many honours and was informed he was to receive the Alberta Order of Excellence but he passed away on July 29 before the induction ceremony.
The medical research conducted by Barb and Merle Olson had far-reaching impacts in many areas, including managing diseases such as cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis and the first commercial vaccine for giardia. Their work on using Meloxicam to reduce pain in livestock, especially for animals undergoing castration or recovering postpartum, has led to significant advances in animal welfare and health.
To improve farm animals’ quality of life, they created Alberta Veterinary Laboratories (AVL) and Solvet Animal Health and began manufacturing veterinary pharmaceuticals. Success followed swiftly, with AVL becoming a household name among Alberta livestock producers for its low-cost, highly effective parasite control treatments and long-lasting pain medication.
As an emergency physician with years of experience, Powell had seen many patients die — despite having survivable medical conditions and trauma — because they hadn’t been able to get to a tertiary care hospital fast enough. It was a financial struggle to get STARS established but Powell firmly believed that purpose, passion and persistence would save the day — and so would the community. Residents of rural areas in the province saw what STARS was doing and stories spread about lives saved with the provision of advanced medical care and the rapid response by a familiar red helicopter.
The full biographies of Van Raay, the Olsons, Powell and other recipients of Alberta Order of Excellence can be found at www.alberta.ca/AOE. The other recipients are Joan Donald of Red Deer, Cyril Kay of Edmonton, Murray McCann of Calgary, and Lena Heavy Shields-Russell (Ikkináínihki) of the Blood Reserve.
The new additions will bring the total membership of the Alberta Order of Excellence to 197.
