Dick Ruston

{{Infobox officeholder | name = Dick Ruston | image = | caption = | office1 = Ontario MPP | term_start1 = 1975 | term_end1 = 1985 | predecessor1 = ''New riding'' | successor1 = Pat Hayes | constituency1 = Essex North | term_start2 = 1967 | term_end2 = 1975 | predecessor2 = ''New riding'' | successor2 = ''Riding abolished'' | constituency2 = Essex—Kent | party = Liberal | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|08|28}} | birth_place = Essex County, Ontario | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|05|19|1919|08|28}} | death_place = Essex County, Ontario | spouse = Shirley Ruston | children = 5 | occupation = Co-op Manager }} '''Richard Fletcher Ruston''' (August 28, 1919 – May 19, 2002) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1985, as a member of the Liberal Party.

==Background== Ruston was born in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, and educated in the area. He was manager of the Essex County Medical Co-op. He and his wife Shirley lived in Essex where they raised five children.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/windsorstar/obituary.aspx?n=richard-ruston&pid=157243771#fbLoggedOut |title=Richard Ruston: Obituary |newspaper=Windsor Star |date=May 19, 2002}}</ref>

==Politics== Ruston was a councillor in Maidstone Township from 1960 to 1962, reeve of the community from 1963 to 1968, and an Essex County councillor.<ref name="obit"/>

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1967 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Fred Cada by 991 votes.<ref name="1971 results">{{cite news |title=Riding-by-riding returns in provincial election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=October 23, 1971 |page=10}}</ref> He was re-elected in the 1971 election by roughly the same margin, and won with larger majorities in 1975,<ref name="1975 results">{{cite news |title=Table of vote results for all Ontario ridings |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=September 19, 1975 |page=C12}}</ref> 1977,<ref name="1977 results">{{cite news |title=Ontario provincial election results riding by riding |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=June 10, 1977 |page=D9}}</ref> and 1981.<ref name="1981 Election Results">{{cite news|author=Canadian Press |title=Winds of change, sea of security |newspaper=The Windsor Star |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0NtYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QlIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1444%2C1388326 |date=1981-03-20 |location=Windsor, Ontario |page=22 |accessdate=2014-04-01}}</ref> He served as Liberal Party whip for a period. The Progressive Conservative Party governed Ontario during this period, and Ruston was an opposition member for his legislative career. He was primarily a defender of farmer's interests.

Ruston announced that he would retire from the legislature in mid-1985, and was not a candidate in that year's provincial election.<ref>{{cite news |title=2 more MPPs decide to quit |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=February 15, 1985 |page=F11}}</ref>

==Later life== He died in 2002 after suffering from Alzheimer's disease.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rushton lived for family, electors |first=Brendan |last=Richardson |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=May 22, 2002 |page=A5}}</ref> Fellow MPP and friend Sean Conway described him as a follower of Ontario's Clear Grit tradition, and a believer that "the best government [...] is the smaller unit closest to the people".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?Date=2002-05-23&Parl=37&Sess=3&locale=en#P633_121654 |title=Tribute to Richard Ruston |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Ontario |accessdate=May 15, 2014}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Ontario MPP biography|id=richard-fletcher-ruston}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruston, Richard}} Category:1919 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Category:People from Essex County, Ontario Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Category:20th-century mayors of places in Ontario