Individual Details
HAROLD ARCHIBALD (KING) RYDER
(11 Jan 1919 - 29 Jun 1990)
Took over the farm after his father died. Told many far fetch stories. Sold the farm to Leslie Ryder and moved to Petitcodiac, NB. [Dana C. Ryder]
Harold was known as "King" Ryder. He lived on his father's farm at New Canaan for many years before selling it to Les Ryder of Moncton NB. He then moved to Petitcodiac.
He then moved to Petitcodiac.
The following tribute sums up much of his life :
A Tribute To King
"A piece of Petitcodiac history passed away a few weeks ago. "King" was 71. King wasn't his real name. It was Harold Ryder.
"And I could never really figure out why he was given the name King. He wasn't a big man. In fact he stood no taller than my five foot four. And he wasn't a rich man. He used to collect beer bottles to supplement his pension. But looking back, I can see there was one thing that would have put King in a class all by himself. . . and that was his storytelling.
"I first met King many years ago while I was tending my father's service station in Petitcodiac. My dad was what you would call a " character," and the old service station attracted lots of those "one of a kind" people.
"I remember King driving his little brown Chev into the garage yard. He'd then amble into the service station and stand by the old pop cooler for hours. I used to like to see him come by, because I knew the time would go quickly once he started to spin his yarns.
"King couldn't read or write. But he had a great interest in what went on in the world. And he had a keen ear for the news. But like all of us, Kinmg sometimes didn't get his words quite right. I remember one time he was really upset about all the drugs coming into the country. And he said they were "even" coming into the Maritimes. And worse than that, the drug smugglers were hiding the drugs in "condos" in their stomachs.
"After King was done telling his view of what was wrong with the world, he would start telling stories about his childhood. As a boy, King said, he had to swim across a river to get his father's cows in an upper pasture. But by the time he'd got them back across the river, the animals would be milked dry, because the salmon would be hanging off each cow's udder. And on that same farm, King said he unearthed a gold coin in his father's garden marked "B.C." He compared his discovery with finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. King always figured that gold coin would have made him a rich man, but his father cashed it in one summer's day to buy a bottle of pop.
"I'm sure almost every person in Petitcodiac remembers a story told by old King. Some of his tales sounded like they were out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
"But despite his story telling, King was an honest man. You could leave thousands of dollars in cash lying around in the service station while you went to fill up a car, but you knew he'd never even think of touching it. And King was a kind man. He never had that much money, but last Christmas he bought my little girl a teddy bear with a bright red bow tie. I'm sure she had a hundred teddies. But that one will always be special. I think of him every time I look at it. And besides his honesty and kindness, he was a grateful man. My husband and I used to leave cases of beer bottles at his door. He never seemed to be home when we dropped them off. But you can be sure we always got a call back to thank us.
The last time I saw King alive, he was in the hospital. He didn't like it very much. King didn't understand what the doctors and nurses were doing with their "fancy fangled" machines. And he was worried when he left there, he was going to have to go into a nursing home.
"King did get to return to his tiny home in Petitcodiac. But a few weeks later, his body was found one morning down by the river which runs through the village. As always, he'd been out collecting beer bottles.
"When someone dies, I rarely go to the funeral home or the funeral. I want to remember the person as they were. But for some reason I went to see King that day before visiting hours. I felt very uneasy there. It brought back old sad memories of my father's death two years earlier. But after I crept up to the casket, and saw King laid out, a big smile came to my face. For old King did indeed "look like a King." Instead of having on an old plaid shirt, work pants, and a ball cap, he had on a fine brown wool suit. And instead of looking like he'd been out to collect beer bottles all day, he looked like a man who'd spent his entire life sitting in a high backed leather chair, smoking fine cigars, and reading the great classics of literature. And I never really noticed before, but he was very handsome. He had a fine head of grey hair, a straight aquiline nose, and a neatly trimmed grey moustache.
"So maybe in the end, God sent me to that funeral home that day to find out the real reason why Harold Ryder was indeed called 'King.'"
References: Janice Jackson, "A Tribute to King," a manuscript without date or other reference.
Harold was known as "King" Ryder. He lived on his father's farm at New Canaan for many years before selling it to Les Ryder of Moncton NB. He then moved to Petitcodiac.
He then moved to Petitcodiac.
The following tribute sums up much of his life :
A Tribute To King
"A piece of Petitcodiac history passed away a few weeks ago. "King" was 71. King wasn't his real name. It was Harold Ryder.
"And I could never really figure out why he was given the name King. He wasn't a big man. In fact he stood no taller than my five foot four. And he wasn't a rich man. He used to collect beer bottles to supplement his pension. But looking back, I can see there was one thing that would have put King in a class all by himself. . . and that was his storytelling.
"I first met King many years ago while I was tending my father's service station in Petitcodiac. My dad was what you would call a " character," and the old service station attracted lots of those "one of a kind" people.
"I remember King driving his little brown Chev into the garage yard. He'd then amble into the service station and stand by the old pop cooler for hours. I used to like to see him come by, because I knew the time would go quickly once he started to spin his yarns.
"King couldn't read or write. But he had a great interest in what went on in the world. And he had a keen ear for the news. But like all of us, Kinmg sometimes didn't get his words quite right. I remember one time he was really upset about all the drugs coming into the country. And he said they were "even" coming into the Maritimes. And worse than that, the drug smugglers were hiding the drugs in "condos" in their stomachs.
"After King was done telling his view of what was wrong with the world, he would start telling stories about his childhood. As a boy, King said, he had to swim across a river to get his father's cows in an upper pasture. But by the time he'd got them back across the river, the animals would be milked dry, because the salmon would be hanging off each cow's udder. And on that same farm, King said he unearthed a gold coin in his father's garden marked "B.C." He compared his discovery with finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. King always figured that gold coin would have made him a rich man, but his father cashed it in one summer's day to buy a bottle of pop.
"I'm sure almost every person in Petitcodiac remembers a story told by old King. Some of his tales sounded like they were out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
"But despite his story telling, King was an honest man. You could leave thousands of dollars in cash lying around in the service station while you went to fill up a car, but you knew he'd never even think of touching it. And King was a kind man. He never had that much money, but last Christmas he bought my little girl a teddy bear with a bright red bow tie. I'm sure she had a hundred teddies. But that one will always be special. I think of him every time I look at it. And besides his honesty and kindness, he was a grateful man. My husband and I used to leave cases of beer bottles at his door. He never seemed to be home when we dropped them off. But you can be sure we always got a call back to thank us.
The last time I saw King alive, he was in the hospital. He didn't like it very much. King didn't understand what the doctors and nurses were doing with their "fancy fangled" machines. And he was worried when he left there, he was going to have to go into a nursing home.
"King did get to return to his tiny home in Petitcodiac. But a few weeks later, his body was found one morning down by the river which runs through the village. As always, he'd been out collecting beer bottles.
"When someone dies, I rarely go to the funeral home or the funeral. I want to remember the person as they were. But for some reason I went to see King that day before visiting hours. I felt very uneasy there. It brought back old sad memories of my father's death two years earlier. But after I crept up to the casket, and saw King laid out, a big smile came to my face. For old King did indeed "look like a King." Instead of having on an old plaid shirt, work pants, and a ball cap, he had on a fine brown wool suit. And instead of looking like he'd been out to collect beer bottles all day, he looked like a man who'd spent his entire life sitting in a high backed leather chair, smoking fine cigars, and reading the great classics of literature. And I never really noticed before, but he was very handsome. He had a fine head of grey hair, a straight aquiline nose, and a neatly trimmed grey moustache.
"So maybe in the end, God sent me to that funeral home that day to find out the real reason why Harold Ryder was indeed called 'King.'"
References: Janice Jackson, "A Tribute to King," a manuscript without date or other reference.
Events
| Birth | 11 Jan 1919 | New Canaan, Brunswick Parish, Queens County, New Brunswick |  | ||
| Death | 29 Jun 1990 | Petitcodiac, Salisbury Parish, Westmorland County, New Brunswick | | ||
| Burial | New Canaan Baptist Cemetery, New Canaan, Brunswick Parish, Queens County, New Brunswick | |
Families
| Father | OSCAR WALLACE RYDER (1884 - 1951) |
| Mother | GRETA MAY THORNE (1885 - 1959) |
| Sibling | IRVING HOWARD (TED) RYDER (1909 - 1977) |
| Sibling | ROBERT BORDEN RYDER (1911 - 1993) |
| Sibling | ROYDEN (DAN) CHESTER RYDER (1915 - 1961) |
| Sibling | ETTA PATIENCE RYDER (1917 - 1996) |
| Sibling | Living |
| Sibling | EVA LOUISE RYDER (1925 - 1981) |
Endnotes
1. RYDER GENEALOGICAL FILES.
2. RYDER GENEALOGICAL FILES.
3. RYDER GENEALOGICAL FILES.