Ron Southern

Ronald Donald Southern,CC CBE AOE (July 25, 1930 – January 21, 2016) was a Canadian businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Calgary-based ATCO Group, and the founder of the Spruce Meadows equestrian centre.

In 1947, Southern and his father each invested $2,000 in the original Alberta Trailer Hire Co., which later became ATCO. Southern received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Alberta in 1953 and began to work full-time for the company. As of 2007 the Southern family is still in control of ATCO. He passed the title of Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer to his daughter, Nancy Southern, in January 2000.

Spruce Meadows

Southern and his wife Margaret Southern were the founders and co-chairs of Spruce Meadows. Opened in 1975, it was built for their daughters who had long been involved with competitive equestrian riding.

Other affiliations

Southern served as a director of several corporations including Lafarge, Southam Inc., Chrysler Corporation of Canada, Imasco, Canadian Airlines, Fletcher Challenge, Royal & SunAlliance and Canadian Pacific. He was a director of Akita Drilling Ltd. and Chairman of Sentgraf Enterprises Ltd. Southern was also a member of the Trilateral Commission. In September 2006, Ron Southern was appointed Officer of Orange Nassau by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.