We mourn the passing of our revered Ray Galawan.
A beloved Richmond farmer and the founding farmer of Richmond FarmWatch, Ray was dedicated to farmland conservation.
Please honour Ray Galawan by reading about him here—and by carrying on his generous dedication.
Ray lived all of his life in Richmond on his farm on No. 4 Road. He was a fourth generation farmer, and he was proud to be the great grandson of Thomas Kidd, settler farmer, poet and great Richmond citizen.
Ray helped Bob Featherstone, his friend since elementary school, to farm strawberries on Ray’s farmland. After retiring from a career as a machinist, and having always kept his hand in farming, Ray became more involved on the farm and became Bob’s right-hand man in his vegetable and berry fields.
Ray also fished along with lifelong fisherman friend Gus Jacobson and Gus’s son Russ, and in recent years Ray was an important part of the Finn Slough community.
Ray was always helping with repairs to boats, wharves and buildings, cleaning the slough and chopping wood for friends and neighbours.
He lent his mechanical expertise and wide array of skills generously, doing tractor work and mechanical repairs for many, many farmers and fishers in the community over the years.
Ray Galawan was dedicated to protecting a farming way of life in Richmond.
He founded Richmond FarmWatch in 2013 when he discovered dumping on a Finn Road farm.
Ray and FarmWatch approached city officials and—by tractor—led a convoy to City Hall and then to Premier Christy Clark’s office in West Point Grey.
Along with Bob Featherstone, Ray also led a months-long “watch” in a hut at the gate of the farm where waste was being dumped. They got support from the neighbourhood, and many people joined the anti-dumping cause.
The success of Ray and FarmWatch came with an Agricultural Land Commission stop-work order and the cessation of dumping on the farmland.
The City of Richmond then strengthened its soil bylaw.
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In late 2017, remediation of the site took place as the soil was screened of demolition-waste fill.
Today the farm fields are planted in crops, as they were for a century.
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Celebration of life for Ray Galawan:
Wednesday, July 25, 2018 at the Celebration Hall at Mountain View Cemetary at 11:30 a.m. It is near 41st & Fraser in Vancouver and accessed from 39th or St George Street. (Click thumbnail map to enlarge.)
But celebrate especially by reading about Ray and his great granddad Thomas Kidd and carrying on what they stood for.
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This article, in loving memory of Ray Galawan, a great Richmond citizen, has been adapted from a Richmond FarmWatch newsletter. Text by Kimi Hendess with support from other Richmond FarmWatch members. Photos by Mik Turje, Chung Chow, Sabrina Henry, Teresa Murphy, Steve Bridger, Erika Koenig-Workman and others.
Update: Some people called Ray “Perfect Ray” because he never half-did anything. The Celebration of Life was in keeping with that. It was a wonderful, thoughtful, bittersweet occasion, thanks to the family, celebrant and friends, with around two hundred taking part. Rest in Peace, Ray.
Natural legacies versus waste 