It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of a long-time employee at the Sunderland Co-op, Ronald McCuaig. Known as “Ronnie” by coworkers and customers alike, Ronnie started out at the Oakwood Ag Centre, formerly Barkey Grain & Feed, in 1994 as the feed mill operator. With rock and roll music playing loudly throughout the building, he could be found bagging and mixing feed, loading delivery trucks, and serving customers all at the same time. Although he didn’t like to admit it, he loved the cats that took up residency in the mill – he could be yelling at them one minute then found feeding and petting them moments later.
After a few years, Ronnie transitioned to working at the feed mill in Sunderland, where he eventually became a delivery driver for the feed department in 2010. He quickly took to the role, and he could always be depended upon no matter the size of the task at hand. He always took the time to get to know each of our feed customers. He could tell you exactly where a customer’s farm was located, where their feed bin could be found, and just how much feed that bin could hold. At the end of every day, without fail, he would be able to recite exactly how far he had driven that day, right down to the kilometer. He was a true book of knowledge and became our “go-to” for questions about farm deliveries. He was an extremely hard worker and kept all his coworkers on their toes as they attempted to keep up with him.
You could often hear Ronnie coming before you would see him. Without knowing Ronnie, you might describe him as boisterous. But anyone who truly got to know him could see through his exterior and knew he had a kind soul and cared greatly for his family and friends.
Ronnie has been, and will always be, greatly missed by all of us here at the Sunderland Co-op. We will remember him through the many stories that he shared with us, and the stories that we have shared with each other over these past few days.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the McCuaig family during this difficult time.