Ronnie Knowles, local visionary and long-time volunteer and co-founder with the Cochrane and Area Events Society (CAES), passed away on Dec. 28 at his home in Cochrane.
Knowles was 72. According to an obituary that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen Knowles suffered a fatal heart attack while watching his beloved LSU football team earn a place in the national championship game. He had recent health challenges, including prostate cancer and heart trouble.
Charles Ronald Knowles was born in Ottawa on Jan. 14, 1947. His story, before he arrived in Cochrane in 2005 to join his partner Susan Calvert, could easily fill a multi-volume book. Knowles was the owner of the former Bighill Pizza and Hideout Pub and worked with a nearby dogsledding company.
Knowles was known best for his constant presence and support in the community.
“He had a great love and passion for Cochrane. It’s not just for the people, he wanted so much for Cochrane to be a vibrant community,” said Marina Chabbert, acting chair of CAES.
Knowles owned and operated numerous businesses throughout his lifetime and had a soft spot for local entrepreneurs. Chabbert said Knowles always, somehow, integrated local businesses into CAES events. She said his second passion was to encourage local businesses to have a presence in the community and be successful.
“He would try and bring awareness to their location and their business to encourage foot traffic. Anything to help stimulate and help that business and the economy along with it,” said Chabbert.
His obituary states that Knowles studied political science at Louisiana State University and became involved in anti-Vietnam War activism. At the university he became involved in the music business when he booked Don McLean for an event months before his song American Pie made him a superstar.
He worked as a roadie after college, returned to Ottawa where he tended bar, painted houses and trained as a crewman for Canada’s national bobsled team. He purchased a boat business in 1977 in New Orleans and eventually a scuba diving resort in Honduras. He then returned to Ottawa and opened a nightclub in 1984. His music contacts allowed him to attract talent from around North America including Blue Rodeo, Junkhouse, The Tragically Hip, Colin James and k.d. lang.
After launching a short-lived newspaper, Knowles relocated to Mississippi where he started a murder mystery theatre and worked as a blackjack dealer. He almost lost his life when Hurricane Katrina roared through the area in 2005. The experience changed him forever and resulted in a PTSD diagnosis.
Chabbert marvelled at Knowles’s well lived life and felt that he brought a wealth of experience to CAES.
“He’s lived a very diverse and unique life. He’s had so many different projects, opportunities and ventures,” she said.
“All of that experience and knowledge and contacts he brought forward into Cochrane is such a good advantage to us as a community.”
Ronnie will be missed.
