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Obituary ~ Raleigh Perry, 1912-2010
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One of the men instrumental in bringing the sport of rodeo to High Prairie died April 23.
Raleigh Perry chaired the High Prairie Elks from 1944-46 when the first rodeos were held. He was 97 years old.
Perry was born May 21, 1912, near Olds, Alta. at Harmattan and died at the Chinook Hospice in Calgary, only one month short of his 98th birthday.
Raleigh moved to High Prairie in 1919 where he lived and farmed for 37 years. He then moved to Edmonton in 1956 to go into business. He retired to the United States in 1973 and after the passing of his second wife Helen in 1987, he returned to Alberta. He subsequently lived in California and British Columbia before settling in Cochrane, Alta.
Perry was a member of the Alberta Cowboy Poetry Association and performed at the Calgary Stampede and gatherings in Western Canada well into his nineties. He was the oldest performing cowboy poet in North America until his death.
However, he will be best be remembered in High Prairie for bring rodeo to town. Perry chaired the Elks when they began the creation of what is known today as the High Prairie Elks Pro Rodeo. He was the man responsible for signing the documents to purchase the property for today’s rodeo grounds. Two years later the first High Prairie outdoor show was held.
In 2006, Perry returned to High Prairie to watch the rodeo.
“Back then it was called the High Prairie Stampede, and it brought in a several hundred people,” says Perry in a 2006 interview. “It is impressive to see how much it has changed. Back then we didn’t have the metal bleachers, it was just a fence around the arena and you picnicked for the day.”
His love for rodeo was unparalleled.
“I used to compete in the bareback and the wild cow milking,” he says. “Of course, before we started a rodeo here we had to go to the neighbouring communities to take part in theirs.”
Perry used his lack of skill in horseback riding and turned it into a talent.
“I could never ride in a saddle worth a damn, that is why I would compete in the bareback,” says Perry. “When I was growing up I was the middle of 13 children, and the older kids had first dibs on the two saddles we owned, so I never got to use one.”
Perry grew up on farm four miles from High Prairie, and eventually married his first of three wives, Ardith Greer, who he was married to for nine years. They had four children. After losing Ardith to tuberculosis, Perry raised the boys on his own for three years.
His life of bachelorhood came to a screeching halt when a two-week whirlwind relationship with his second wife, Helen, a dancer from the U.S., changed his life. He married again.
“At this point she had never seen the house she was going to move into, or even met my boys,” says Perry.
Helen was Perry’s inspiration for his first poem he ever wrote, which was an accomplishment for the poetry lover, who at 90 joined the Cowboy Poets Association.
“Since I was 12 years old I have loved cowboy poetry,” says Perry. “Whenever I came across a poem I liked and I would memorize it. At 50 I started composing my own poems.”
In addition to his poetry composition, Perry also wrote an autobiography called ‘My Life and Poems’ about his life which was finished just after he turned 90. He has sold 175 books and has bound 288.
“I have lived an interesting life, that is why I wanted to write my story,” says Perry. “I have done a lot of different work and have lived in a lot of places.”
Perry is survived by: four sons, Ronald (Iris), Chester (Carol), George (Irene) and Patrick (Maureen); seven grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Doris Bliss of High Prairie.
He was predeceased by 11 of his 12 siblings and three wives, Ardith (Greer), Helen (Tierney) and Ola (Gillebrand).
Perry will be laid to rest in High Prairie May 1, 2010 at 2 p.m. at the High Prairie United Church.
If friends so desire, a memorial tribute in Raleigh’s name may be made to Chinook Hospice, 1261–Glenmore Trail SW, Calgary, Alta., T2V 4Y8.
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