PHILANTHROPIST RON CAREY

Appreciation for an important benefactor

Mar 14, 2025

Pioneer Acres has been fortunate to receive many generous donations during its 55 years of existence. Members and others have donated their volunteer time, their cash and numerous valuable artifacts to the Club.

There is no other person who has been a more significant donor to our Club than Ron Carey.

Ronald D. Carey (January 24th, 1939 – November 3rd, 2019) was raised on a rural Alberta farm where his love for trucks began. He started working on oil rigs and road building crews as a teenager in 1956. He eventually founded his own oilfield service company, J&L Supply Co. Ltd., in 1973.

J&L supplied drill bits, including a patented design for diamond tipped drill bits and replacing those tips. As his company became successful, Ron began collecting and restoring vintage vehicles and oil & gas memorabilia.

By 1999 Ron’s collection had outgrown his storage facilities in Calgary. He had become a member of Pioneer Acres in 1998 and donated a new building to the museum where his artifacts could be displayed to the visiting public.

Several years later, Ron also made a major donation of vehicles and artifacts to Heritage Park which was the basis for Gasoline Alley. As his collection continued to grow, Ron added a large extension to the original building at Pioneer Acres. His display of antique trucks inspired Alberta Chapter members of the American Truck Historical Society to add another large truck museum building to Pioneer Acres in 2004.

Ron Carey was a strong supporter of the Calgary Stampede and was a founding member of the World Professional Chuckwagon Association. His philanthropy included financial contributions to Alberta Children’s Hospital, STARS Air Ambulance and other local charities.

Before the end of his life, Ron disposed of a portion of his truck collection which emptied the original building at Pioneer Acres. He strongly supported the use of this space for the relocation of the Grain Academy from Stampede Park. The newer extension on the building is now the Ron Carey Truck Museum. The Carey antique trucks owned by Pioneer Acres are displayed in this area. You can also see them in the Truck Parade during our Annual Show in August.

The end for Ron came in 2019 during a vintage car rally in the United Kingdom. He was 80 years old.