Community mourns former Black Diamond mayor Rolly Magee

A former Black Diamond mayor is remembered as making it the best it could be during his 16 years on council.

The loss of Rolly Magee on Aug. 3 following his battle with lung disease is hitting the community hard, especially among those who remember him as an outgoing mayor who put his community first.

“He always had the best intentions for his community,” said Kelly Tuck, who served as Turner Valley’s mayor from 2001 to 2013 after serving two terms on council. “He had a heart of gold. If there was an event, you knew Rolly was going to be there. He was very committed to the town.”

Magee, who was elected to council in 1995 and served as mayor from 1998 to 2008, played a major role in the Main Street revitalization project where he assisted in securing grant funding to help businesses replace their storefronts.

He was also instrumental in developing the Scott Seaman Sports Rink, for which he received an award from the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association in 2008, and Black Diamond’s street paving program where money was budgeted annually to pave the town’s streets.

Tuck fondly remembers working alongside Magee on building regional partnerships between Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Okotoks, High River and Foothills County – then the MD of Foothills.

“We built really good solid relationships,” she said. “We were both involved with the start of the Westend Regional Sewage Services Commission. There were so many times when we would sit and have conversations about where we could go and how we were going to get there.”

Another project the mayors collaborated on was amalgamation.

Tuck said she and Magee had hoped to see their two towns amalgamate, but when it came to a public vote Black Diamond residents rejected the idea with a 71 per cent vote in 2007.

Despite the defeat, Magee believed the communities should consider holding meetings quarterly to assess where joint delivery of services would be beneficial. Following his time as mayor, a Friendship Agreement was signed - a partnership between Black Diamond and Turner Valley to collaborate on bylaws and share services where possible.

Tuck described Magee as a good man who was outgoing, and said he will be missed.

“It’s very sad for the community,” she said. “He’d make you laugh any opportunity he could. He would sit down and have a cold beer and tell you the best stories ever.”

Working alongside Magee on council for 10 years, Sharlene Brown fondly remembers his commitment to the community.

“While he was sitting on council his first love was the community and he tried to make Black Diamond the best it could be,” said Brown, now Black Diamond’s chief administrative officer. “We’ve seen a lot of positive changes in our community while he was on council. He led a good team of people.”

Magee defeated Brown in the 2007 municipal election for the mayor title. After he resigned in September 2008, following his doctor’s orders due to high blood pressure, Brown was elected mayor in the December 2008 by-election. Magee ran against Brown and Gordon Tomte in the 2010 municipal election, but it was Brown who won that time.

Brown said Magee was very community orientated, having attended several community events over the years.

“We had great barbecues and ATCO trucks all over the place,” she said.

Magee had worked for Canadian Western Natural Gas, later renamed ATCO, for more than 35 years.

Magee’s daughter, Monica Surgeson, said her family moved to Black Diamond in 1985 and that her Black Diamond home was her father’s main residence in his final years. He died at age 75.

Surgeson witnessed the natural progression from her father’s involvement in the community, including serving on the volunteer fire department and joining the Foothills Lions Club, to his time on council.

“Whatever was happening, chances are he was involved,” she said. “It was just part of who he was. He loved the community and it was about making it the best it could be.”

Surgeson and her siblings Bobby and Wendy looked up to their father.

“I always admired his work ethic and the fact that he only had a Grade 9 education and managed to be successful and become mayor,” she said. “He loved living in a small town and that whole sense of community, and the fact that he could go to these big meetings with the city mayors and hold his own.”

After Magee resigned as mayor in 2008, he delved into camping, travelling, riding his Harley Davidson and being around family and friends, said Surgeson.

As for the Magee name, it will live on in Black Diamond for decades.

Magee Place, the office building across from the Black Diamond Municipal Building, was named after the former mayor by the building’s owner after Magee pushed for the empty lot to be developed.