The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Ronning's lifelong ambition was to explain China to the western world.
ATA Archives

Chester Ronning was born in China and maintained close ties with that country over his lifetime, but he also made his mark in education and politics in Alberta.

The son of Lutheran missionaries, Ronning was born in Fancheng, China, in 1894, and received his early education there. The family eventually settled in Alberta. (The Ronning Homestead, near the community of Valhalla Centre in the Peace River district, was formally recognized as one of Canada’s historic places in 2001.) Ronning graduated from the University of Alberta in 1916, with a BSc in education. In 1921, he returned to China to take a position as the principal of a teachers’ school. In 1927, Ronning became the principal of Camrose Lutheran College, a position he held for 15 years.

During his time at Camrose Lutheran College, Ronning became deeply involved in provincial politics. In 1932, he was elected as a United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) MLA for Camrose, a position he held until the 1935 provincial election, when none of the UFA candidates were elected and the party disappeared from Alberta’s political landscape. He then joined the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and served as its leader from 1940 to 1942.

After the war, Ronning accepted a diplomatic post in China. He also held posts in Norway and India, but his thoughts always returned to China. For more than 25 years, he worked toward better understanding and communication between that country and North America. Edmonton-based filmmaker Tom Radford made the documentary China Mission: The Chester Ronning Story (National Film Board, 1980), which focuses on this period of Ronning’s life. As the NFB’s synopsis of the film says, “Throughout all of his careers, [Ronning’s] lifelong ambition was to explain China to the western world. His story is a rare example of the meeting of East and West in a compassionate, remarkable man.”

Today, the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life, at the U of A’s Augustana Campus (formerly Camrose Lutheran College), carries on Ronning’s legacy. The About Us section of the centre’s website says, “Ronning’s rich, active life and hospitable disposition exemplifies the kind of public engagement central to the Centre’s work.” These qualities also garnered Ronning honorary membership in the Alberta Teachers’ Association (1968), Officer of the Order of Canada (1967), Companion of the Order of Canada (1972), the Alberta Order of Excellence (1983), and honorary degrees from seven universities (including the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge). A K–6 school in Camrose is also named after him and aims to serve students in the spirit of Ronning—by accepting all, pursuing excellence, and promoting caring and community.

Ronning’s life came full circle when in 1983 he returned to China and was honoured at a banquet at the Great Hall of the People and at a gala party in his birthplace of Fancheng to mark his 90th year.