Condolences on the passing of Michael Dawe

The Red Deer Polytechnic community offers our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Michael Dawe upon the news of his passing last week.

Michael and the Dawe family have a long-standing connection to Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), dating back to the institution’s formation in the 1960s. His father, G. Harold Dawe played an instrumental role in establishing RDP’s pre-cursor, Red Deer Junior College, and championed the building of the main campus on 32 Avenue in 1967. At the RDP Community Awards this October, Michael joined us in celebrating exemplary partners of our Polytechnic and presented the G.H. Dawe Memorial Award of Excellence.

Michael himself was a prominent and proud alum, having studied in the Bachelor of Arts program at Red Deer College from 1974 - 1975 before attending the University of Alberta to earn his degree in History and Economics. He was the inaugural recipient of RDP’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997. Over the years, he spent countless hours on our campus, particularly in our Library.

Michael’s unyielding commitment to Red Deer and central Alberta, as an archivist, historian, volunteer and community leader will be sorely missed. He was a strong supporter of the region’s education system through his work on various committees and boards. He was, in many ways, an educator himself -- with his unique ability to reflect our own stories back to us in a compelling and thoughtful way.

In Michael’s honour, the Red Deer Polytechnic flag has been lowered to half-staff. Our thoughts and sympathy are with all those who knew and admired this truly remarkable Albertan.