RM of Prince Albert councillor Colin Sheldon passed away on Jan. 30. (submitted)

By Susan McNeil

RM councillor memoriam

RM councillor was a pioneer in rural water utility

Feb 3, 2023 | 11:59 AM

With the passing of Councillor Colin Sheldon, the RM of Prince Albert is missing a fountain of knowledge— especially when it comes to rural water supply.

Sheldon, who was 67 when he died on Jan. 30 in a Saskatoon hospital, was a lifelong resident of the rural Prince Albert area and an advocate for his community.

“He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the RM. He could remember things that happened before his time on council,” Reeve Eric Schmalz said.

Schmalz said the biggest impact Sheldon had was in helping create a safe water supply for farms and acreages.

Along with being part of the creation of Prince Albert’s rural water utility in 1993, Colin sat as a board member for years and travelled across Saskatchewan to help them create their own versions of the Prince Albert system.

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“The biggest thing we need to be proud of Colin for is the water utility board and him bringing water to rural Saskatchewan,” said his sister, Bernice (Wudrick).

For years, Sheldon and his father were just one of many rural families hauling water with a truck, trailer, and tank to supply drinking water to the farm. He made it a priority to change that.

Municipal service runs deep in the Sheldon family and Colin was just one of the multiple family members to be elected to a local council of some description. His great-grandfather, Thomas Bibby, was a councillor in RM 461 as was an uncle and his maternal grandfather was a councillor in Nipawin.

Colin Sheldon was not the first member of the family to run for municipal council. (submtited)

Colin was first elected to his Ward 5 seat in 1987, staying on council until 1990.

“He loved being in the thick of things and he felt he had a lot to offer,” said Phyllis Sheldon, Colin’s wife of five years, on why he decided after decades of absence to run again in 2020.

Colin was very much a “people person” who enjoyed talking to everyone he met, something he did without judgment, his widow described, no matter their social or economic situation.

“He knew everybody and he liked everybody and he always managed to turn a situation around to a positive,” said Phyllis.

This attribute was noted by his sisters who said he hated confrontation and would do what it took to avoid it, a valuable skill at the council table.

His three sisters say that driving around with him was incredible as he knew the roads, where everyone lived, and more importantly, the local problems.

“Taking a drive with him in the country was probably the most interesting drive you could ever take because he knew everybody,” said Merle (Johnston).

Even in the weeks spent in hospital before he died, he never said no to anyone that wanted to stop in and talk to him.

Sheldon was born with a congenital heart issue that was undiagnosed until he was 14. Babies born with it now are routinely operated on and have normal lives, but in 1955, medicine had not yet taken those steps.

“He knew his health issues. He knew his limitations, and every time something would change with his health, he adjusted to cope with it and he never complained,” said Merle.

He was born at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert on March 6, 1955, the eldest of what would be four children of Robert and Muriel Sheldon.

He grew up on the family farm and there developed his love of dairy farming as the operation grew from four milk cows to 40 as the years went by.

“He was a very good dairy farmer and he loved Holstein cows, or let’s say, all cows,” said his sisters.

As with many rural residents, Sheldon spent time at auctions, developing a love of them that led him to train as an auctioneer before starting to work in the industry.

When he went to auction sales, he would often buy old tractors and trucks and then later sell them or lend them to people like his fellow church members. Sometimes he tinkered around and modified them.

Buying and selling old trucks was a passion for Colin. (submitted)

Sheldon did not just stick to farming at home, he was also involved in the farming project at the agricultural facility at Riverbend for Sask Corrections.

This was a job he loved and did with passion and always managed to get along with the inmates that he was working with. He advocated for – and was successful – in getting a butcher shop open as part of the farm operations.

It was after he retired that he decided to run again for council.

Sheldon was an active councillor at his passing and the RM says the loss of both his knowledge and his personality is going to be felt.

“He was just a great community champion and someone who is going to be sorely missed, both by the RM and by everyone who knew him,” Schmalz said.

In the upcoming weeks, the RM will begin the difficult task of finding another person to fill the Ward 5 seat and there will be a by-election.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com