Sixty Years of History
by Vi Oko

John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Pope John XXIII passed away, Lester B. Pearson became Prime Minister, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, “Littlest Hobo” and “The Fugitive” were on television, and Beatlemania was launched with the release of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1963. The Edmonton Retired Teachers’ Association (ERTA) and the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association (ARTA) were formally organized in 1963. The histories of both associations are closely interwoven.
In the early 1950s, retired teachers in Edmonton met informally to pursue their interest in art, music, bridge and bowling. By the end of the 1950s, similar groups were meeting socially in Calgary and Lethbridge as well.
Ben Hager presided at a meeting of the Retired Teachers of Edmonton on November 14, 1960, to discuss the contents of a letter received from James Laing, president of the fledgling group in Calgary, advising his colleagues in Edmonton of the intent of retired teachers residing in Calgary to formally organize to address the pension and medical insurance concerns the two groups shared. Larue Smith was elected to the position of president at that meeting with Lillian Parnell agreeing to continue to serve as secretary of the organization.

Soon after, a committee of retired teachers living in Edmonton began to lobby the provincial government, seeking an increase in pension income for those teachers who retired before 1948.

A Teachers’ Pension Plan had been established in 1939 with equal contributions to the plan made by active teachers and the provincial government. The first pension cheque was received by a retired teacher in 1940.

The first formal meeting of the Retired Teachers Association of Alberta—Calgary Branch was held at Western Canada High School on January 23, 1961. A one-dollar fee was set at that meeting.

In a 1956 amendment to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund Act, the government agreed to guarantee all pensions, but it stopped setting aside money to prefund the benefits. At this point the government took out half of the pool of money that had accrued and used it to pay its share of pension payments, quickly depleting the small reserve. (continued)

Lillian Parnell began writing letters to all of the retired teachers in the province, encouraging them to join, for a dollar membership fee, the Retired Teachers of Alberta. The Edmonton committee paid the initial postage costs.

Following a presentation by Frank G. McCoy to the Annual Representative Assembly in 1962, the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) agreed to assess all active teachers an additional fifty cents a month. As a result, teachers who had retired prior to 1948 began to receive a $110.00 pension (the original $65.00 pension supplemented by an additional $30.00 from the ATA and $15.00 from the government).

The committee began to advocate in earnest for an increase in pensions for those teachers who had retired as recently as 1959.

In an exchange of letters with James Laing, Lillian, on behalf of her committee, pursued the idea of a permanent retired teachers’ organization with the primary objective being the overall welfare of all retired teachers and the need to speak with one voice on behalf of all retired teachers in Alberta.

Medical Services Incorporated (MSI) was a group health insurance plan that offered reduced rates for hospitalization, but only if 75% of the retired teachers in the province joined as a group. A total of 52% of the respondents to a notice in the June issue of the ATA Magazine stated a willingness to join. Lillian contacted 288 retired teachers, in the hope of convincing the required number to commit. Only 59% of them replied. Of the 461 letters she sent to the 1961 retirees, only 60% supported the proposal. However, with James Laing’s encourage-ment and Lillian Parnell’s letter-writing campaign, the required percentage was finally attained in 1962 and a group health insurance plan for retired teachers was achieved.

Delegates representing the Retired Teachers of Ed-monton, the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association-Calgary Branch, the Retired Teachers Association (Lethbridge) and retirees in Medicine Hat met on March 12, 1963, to originate the Retired Teachers of Alberta, later changed to the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association.

Application for incorporation under the Societies Act was made on September 3, 1963. The charter that incorporated the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association as a non-profit society was issued on November 14, 1963.

The name of the Edmonton branch was changed to the Edmonton Retired Teachers’ Association at that time.
Before long, the Calgary branch changed its name to the Calgary Retired Teachers’ Association. The Lethbridge branch became the Southwestern Alberta Retired Teachers Association in 1987.

Six new branches were formed in the 1970s, with three more added in the 1980s, St. Albert joined in 1997, Foothills in 2002, Stettler in 2008, Park-land in 2010 and Heartland in 2012.

On October 3, 2007, the Okanagan Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association became a satellite branch. Formation of a branch of Alberta retired teachers in British Columbia was inspired by Irl Miller, who provided the names, and facilitated by Ron Rhine, who made the contacts from his new home in Westbank, British Columbia. Both of them were previous ERTA presidents and both made a sig-nificant contribution to the growth and advance-ment of services provided by ARTA and ERTA.

Arthur G. Skitch of Edmonton was elected to the position of president of the new association and Milton W. Brock of Calgary became the secretary-treasurer. Representatives of the Edmonton and Calgary branches alternated in serving in a leader-ship role for the next ten years until J. A. McDonald of Medicine Hat was elected president of ARTA at the AGM on October 3, 1973.

Numerous ERTA members served the association in various executive capacities over the following twenty years and were instrumental in ensuring the viability of the organization over the years.

On October 22, 1980, an executive secretary was appointed to work (without pay) in the ARTA office (Room 408 was a small office in Barnett House courtesy of the ATA) and acted as the treasurer as well.

Joe Durand (ERTA) served as the executive sec-retary until October 1983 and again from October 1986 to October 1993. He alternated in the role of president and executive secretary with Ron Rhine who served in that position until 1997.

Ron assumed the role a second time in October 1992 with increased membership as his primary focus. He added some furnishings, an answering machine, a filing cabinet and some shelving to give the small office a professional appearance.

A benevolent ATA staff member applied her creative expertise to Ron’s initial attempt at an informative newsletter and the first iteration of news&views was launched.

A conversation with an ARTA member regarding health insurance benefits available to Ontario re-tired teachers prompted Ron to investigate the possibility of arranging for a similar plan for retired teachers in Alberta. Johnson Inc., the insurance agent for Maritime Life, would only agree to provide health insurance benefits in Alberta if over 1500 letters were received requesting such coverage. A formal letter was included in a retirement fund mailing. Terms discussed with Johnson Inc. and Maritime Life included a 1% rebate. After a motion was passed at an executive meeting, the ARTA Benefit Plan became operational on September 5, 1995, with an open enrolment.

Ron left the position in 1997 with the expectation that the job description of the role would be prescribed by the ARTA Board of Directors instead of being a self-directed one and that the executive secretary would be paid a small stipend.

Gerry Smith served as the executive secretary for the next ten years. When Don Mock was hired, the association was on the cusp of major expansion. He resigned from the redefined position of executive director, now a full-time position, effective August 31, 2011.

Daniel Mulloy, the current executive director, is the first non-teacher to oversee office operations and guide the expansion of the organization.
ARTA became self-insured on April 8, 2008, self-administration went into effect on January 1, 2021, and ARTARx, ARTA’s member-owned pharmacy, opened on February 1, 2023.

Visionaries played a pivotal role in the establishment of ARTA. Their commitment to the original concept has had a significant impact on how the association has evolved. The welfare of retired teachers was the primary concern as was providing an influential voice locally and provincially along with the promotion of fellowship with other retired teachers.