Ron Moffatt (82), a man of courage and dignity, sadly left this world on May 13, 2024 … Ron went into surgery. It was in the recovery room that his heart gave out. It had been a difficult year for Ron health-wise and he was just too tired and weak.
Ron was the long-time cartoonist for Soo Today. His comics were known as wry and often commentary on larger social issues. He really enjoyed this outlet and took great pride in his role.
Ron worked as a caretaker for ADSB for many years and made a lot of friends along the way. He ended his career at Korah where some of his cartoons remain on the doors.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Longtime SooToday cartoonist Ron Moffatt passed away earlier this week at the age of 82. His final ‘Sunday Funny’ was published this morning. This article about Moffatt’s life and work, written by SooToday’s founding editor David Helwig, was originally posted on May 16 and is being republished here for readers who may have missed it. Thanks for all the laughs, Ron.
Over the years, Ron Moffatt’s cartoons appeared in the Sault Star, Sault This Week and most recently, on SooToday.
To be frank, many of our readers didn’t ‘get’ Ron’s dad-joke sense of humour.
But many of us did.
Many of us saw Ron’s cartoons for what they were: smiling moments with a kind, humble and much-loved retired school janitor who delighted in making us laugh (or groan) with his weekly Sunday Funny feature.
Moffatt kept on drawing comics for SooToday until the end.
In fact, he left us with two final comics.
One will be published on Sunday morning.
The other, originally planned by us to be his final Sunday Funny, appears in the photo gallery at the top of this article.
Coincidentally or not, it deals with death.
Far from being a dad-joke, Ron Moffatt’s final comic panel takes a sharp, provocative look at our local doctor shortage.
More from SooToday:
For most of those years, he hid a terrible secret from his family and everyone else.
In September, 1956, at the age of 14, Ron had been wrongfully convicted of murdering a seven-year-old boy on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds.
He spent just under eight months in custody for a crime he didn’t commit.
Ron spoke to no one about that traumatic experience for 60 years.
In his late 70s, he approached a crime writer named Nate Henley, who published a book in 2018 titled The Boy on The Bicycle: A Forgotten Case of Wrongful Conviction in Toronto.
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I share that Ed passed away on Sunday. He bravely battled cancer over the last 8 years, never letting it slow his creativity. Ed was a talented artist, cartoonist, designer and teacher. His artwork brought joy, his teaching inspired others and his cartooning sparked conversation. He loved engaging with you all as friends and followers. He is at peace now and reunited with loved ones and his beloved Remmy.
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I share that Ed passed away on Sunday. He bravely battled cancer over the last 8 years, never letting it slow his creativity. Ed was a talented artist, cartoonist, designer and teacher. His artwork brought joy, his teaching inspired others and his cartooning sparked conversation. He loved engaging with you all as friends and followers. He is at peace now and reunited with loved ones and his beloved Remmy.