Local chuckwagon legend Ray Croteau is being remembered for the contributions he made to the community and the sport he loved.
“He always looked out for others, and where he could help he would,” explained his son Bert Croteau, following his father’s passing.
While many knew Croteau for his years spent competing in chuckwagon races, his history in Bonnyville goes back to the days when it was being settled.
“I think a lot of people know him for the wagon racing, but there was a lot more to him than that,” noted Bert.
On Wednesday, Oct. 30, Croteau passed away peacefully at the age of 91.
His daughters, Jeanette Lange and Dianne Sylvestre, remember their father as a big man with a big heart.
“He was a man with huge hands. People who met him always said, ‘it’s like shaking hands with a shovel,’” Lange said.
Born and raised in Bonnyville, Croteau’s parents were among the first families to settle in the area.
“At the museum, the Croteau original home is there. The little house and church are both his parents’ generation, where seven or eight families were starting Bonnyville from scratch,” Lange detailed.
Croteau was described as a jack of all trades. He was a lumberjack, a dairy and grain farmer, and a construction worker. At one time, he even operated a John Deere dealership in town.
He was an active member in the community, and was instrumental in the construction of the Agriplex and the first rodeo grounds.
“He always volunteered to put something of a pioneer nature in the parades for years,” Lange recalled. “It had to do with the old-fashioned chuckwagons, the very old ones and he would participate that way.”
Croteau’s interest in adventure brought him to chuckwagons.
“He always loved racing,” Bert said. “He started racing chariots with two horses back when we had the gymkhana club going. He did that, and he wanted to graduate to wagon racing. He did it part-time for a couple of years, and decided that was what he wanted to do.”
He continued, “Back in the day, we’d hook up anything we had… If the neighbours had a horse and it could run, we had to try it out. Most of the time, they were just a runaway. There wasn’t any thoroughbreds back in the day. There were a few, but we didn’t have any until later on in the years.”
Croteau’s chuckwagon career began in 1967, mainly competing in the Northern Chuckwagon Racing Association circuit.
Fellow chuckwagon driver and Iron River-native Doug Irvine was an outrider for Croteau. Irvine fondly remembers Croteau’s passion for chuckwagon racing and his involvement over the years.
“I know when he was racing, he was really good for the sport and encouraged every driver to get going. He was definitely a big part of our sport for a lot of years,” he expressed.
Croteau’s iconic rainbow wagon was well-known throughout the chuckwagon circuit, and he won a number of competitions throughout the years. He competed in the Calgary Stampede from 1979 until his retirement in 1997 at the age of 69.
“They put the rule in to stop racing at 65 that year,” Bert recalled.
Ed Wittchen, president of the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA), labelled Croteau as “a legend of the sport of chuckwagon racing.”
“The legacy of his rainbow wagon impacted generations of fans and drivers from Bonnyville to Cheyenne Frontier Days, to the Calgary Stampede, among the many places he raced,” he stated in an email. “He had a huge impact locally with his Action Barn facility and track where his fellow drivers and outriders, including his own family, were able to train and learn the sport.”
Bert followed in his father’s chuckwagon footsteps, and his son, Rae Croteau Jr., also took his spot behind the reins. In 2017, Rae retired and three generations took one more ride around the local grounds in the rainbow wagon.
In honour of Croteau and everything he accomplished, the Bonnyville Pro Rodeo and Chuckwagon Association (BPRCA) named the local rodeo the Spirit of Bonnyville in 2018.
“The Spirit of Bonnyville reflects on Ray Croteau, and what he did for the community and wagon racing over the years,” noted Jim Martineau, past president of the BPRCA.
Martineau described Croteau as “one of the veterans and developers of wagon racing in this part of the country.”
“He was always a top competitor, and always a gentleman… He was a master at that trade, and I think he broke a lot of horses for other drivers. He helped a lot of drivers out, and he was a pioneer in the business,” he added.
During chuckwagon tours, Sylvestre was always surprised by the amount of attention her father got.
“He had a lot of people who followed him, and I never understood back then how so many people could follow him from one show to the next. There was a lot of young fans, and I couldn’t understand how they could follow an old guy.”
Croteau was community-minded, and always tried to give back whenever he could.
“During the year of the Calgary Olympics, he went out to get a piece of the flame in Saskatchewan somewhere to bring it to the schools so that all the kids could light up from that flame. He was very patriotic. He loved this country, and the town he lived in,” Lange expressed.
Irvine said, “He was definitely a great man, and an inspiration for all.”
