Kenneth John Calder

Kenneth passed away peacefully with his family at his side at Bruyère Palliative Care, in Ottawa, on February 27, at the age of 81. Ken was the loving husband of Odile Gravereaux Calder, the loving father of Robert and his wife, Julia (Williams), and the loving grandfather of Alexandre and Benjamin. He will be missed by his brother, Robert L. Calder of Saskatoon and by his many nieces and nephews in Canada, in France, and around the world.

Ken was born in Moose Jaw to Earle Fenwick Calder and Mildred Jane Remey. After his parents’ divorce, he was raised entirely by his mother, who had a profound effect on his values and work ethic. When he was four years old, she moved the family to Saskatoon, where Ken grew up across the street from the University of Saskatchewan. This was where, at the age of 14 he was given the longest and best Star Phoenix paper route in the city, including the University campus and the University Hospital, where he several times sold newspapers to John Diefenbaker.

Inevitably, Ken crossed the street and attended the University as a student, and earned a BA Honours degree in 1966 and a Master’s in History in 1967. He then spent the next four years in England earning his PhD in History and International Studies as Commonwealth Scholar at the London School of Economics. His dissertation, Britain and the Origins of the New Europe, 1914-1918, was later published by the Cambridge University Press. His time in London were important formative years, shaping him for a career in Ottawa and launching him into a new phase of his life. Residing in London House, he made long-lasting friends from everywhere in the Commonwealth and the United States, many of whom went home to become leaders in their own countries.

Ken, however, came back to Canada with more than a PhD. One summer he was asked to travel to serve as best man for a friend who was marrying into a French family. The bride’s sister, Odile, was assigned to be his guide; they were both smitten, and within a year they settled in Ottawa together.

Ken had worked toward a career in academia, but before he had completed his PhD, he was offered a position in the Defence Research Board. His reputation for analytical rigour, his grasp of strategy and arms control, and his talent for concise and convincing prose led to his assignment to the Canadian delegation to NATO in 1979 to manage the nuclear file at a sensitive time in East-West relations. In 1983, as Director of Strategic Analysis, Ken was one of a small, handpicked team working with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau on his groundbreaking Peace Initiative. In 1987, Ken wrote the White Paper, Challenge and Commitment: A Defence Policy for Canada. He wrote a second White Paper seven years later. As Assistant Deputy Minister (Policy), the senior civilian policy advisor in National Defence, from 1991 to his retirement in 2006, Ken served as the chief architect of the reshaping of defence policy brought about by the end of the Cold War.

Ken elicited great loyalty from his staff, and, aware that National Defence needed to draw on talented and public-spirited young Canadians, he created the Policy Intern Program. He was, it was said, “the ultimate talent-spotter,” and a good many of today’s eminent civil servants flourished under his mentorship. In 2000 Ken was awarded the country’s highest civil service honour: The Outstanding Achievement Award of the Public Service of Canada.

Upon his retirement, Ken found more time to indulge his passion for history, travel, and genealogy. He took many research trips to trace his ancestry back to Scotland, England, France, and Germany, and documented his forebears’ journey to New England and Canada. He traced his ancestry to Mayflower pilgrims, Highland Scots, and French Huguenots; and to both fierce Loyalists and American revolutionaries in Pennsylvania.

In retirement, Ken and Odile also took the time to travel extensively to countries Ken had seen only too briefly on official visits, and they took the time to tend together their garden in Ottawa. Always keen to expand his horizons and circle of friends, Ken also joined his son at weekly games of trivia, met friends for weekly lunch debates and made new friends among Ottawa’s stylophiles.

Ken’s proudest accomplishments were being a father to Robert and a grandfather to Alexandre and Benjamin, whom he loved unconditionally. Robert inherited his father’s love of travel and history, and Ken was delighted when he chose a career of teaching history to another generation of young people.

A private interment took place at the Beechwood cemetery in Ottawa. Friends and family will be invited in the spring for a Celebration of Ken's life at the Beechwood National Memorial Centre. 

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Parkinson Canada.

                                                     "Vigilans non cadet"