No one more deserving of a Knighthood
Phil Duffy
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 07/01) - It isn't hard to fathom why St. John Ambulance veteran Max Rispin will soon be knighted.
The modest and soft spoken Rispin is only the second member of the organization in northern Canada to be dubbed a knight.
The first member of the St. John Brigade from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to be Knighted was Herb Heinz, in 1977.
"I have known, worked with, and respected Max Rispin since the late 1970s," said Heinz. "His reputation of excellence and honesty is beyond reproach. he is an all around above board person.
"He approached everything he ever did for our organization with all his heart and soul. If it weren't for Max and others like him, our organization wouldn't be where it is today," he added.
Born in a St. John's hospital
Rispin's connection to the organize goes back to when he was born in St. John's hospital in his native New Zealand.
He came to Canada's North in 1960, moving to the Yukon to teach. In 1968 he moved to the Northwest Territories, teaching in communities in the western and eastern Arctic.
In 1974 he became principal of the school in Fort McPherson, and soon after, the settlement manager. It was around that time that he met his wife Anna Vittrekwa.
Max and Anna moved to Yellowknife in 1977, and it was here he received a three-year grant from the Donner Foundation to train native Northerners to become instructors in first aid and home nursing.
"When I was with the Donner Foundation training native instructors, I was learning from them some of the old traditional healing methods. They had some truly ingenious ways of making use of what materials were available to them," said Rispin.
He recalled the ingenuity of polar bear hunting guides.
"They would make perfect splints out of plastic jerry-cans by cutting out the corners, and they showed me that the powder from those little round puff-balls you see in the late summer and autumn make an effective blood coagulant."
Brandishing a serious scar on the heal of his left hand, Rispin tells of an incident where one of these ancient remedies actually saved him from serious blood loss, infection, and possibly death.
A hatchet he used to notch poles while camping at Reed Lake slipped and he cut his hand.
"We had a first aid kit with us so I figured it really wasn't a problem.
"Then I discovered that there was only one band-aid in the kit. That was when my wife went and got some Spruce gum. She mixed the gum with some vaseline and a little bit of sugar, melted the mixture, and when it cooled she applied it to the wound as a combination poultice/bandage."
"Not only did it stop the bleeding but it acted as a disinfectant as well," he added. Rispin joined the St John brigade in 1978. In 1980 he became the Emergency Measures Coordinator for Municipal and Community Affairs, a position he held until his retirement on April 1.
Rispin also rose steadily through the St. John ranks, eventually becoming president of the Council of St. John for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
He's already been named a commander of the order and elevation to the knighthood is seen as a fitting tribute by his St. John peers.
"I can honestly think of no other person as deserving of a Knighthood as Max Rispin," said David Connelly, current president. "Everyone within the organization, right up to Buckingham Palace, feels he absolutely deserves this."
The road from commander to Knight is a complicated and extremely rare one. In Rispin's case, the Council for the Northwest and Nunavut Territories recommended him for Knighthood to the National Order Committee in Ottawa.
From there the recommendations for all Canadians go to Buckingham Palace to be reviewed by Richard, the Duke of Gloucester.
The Duke's recommendations are sent to the Governor General of Canada, who makes final decisions.
"Max was recommended and chosen in recognition for his amount of service time, his effort, his skills, and his overall dedication," said Joan Wills, the Secretary of the Order of the St. John Ambulance National Headquarters in Ottawa.
Now retired, Rispin is preparing to return to New Zealand, and his Northern comrades wanted to send him off with a fitting tribute.
He was named a "Knight for the Night" by NWT Commissioner Glenna Hansen during a Recognition and Awards dinner ceremony Saturday night at the Canadian Forces Northern Area Headquarters.
The actual Knighting ceremony will be held in New Zealand in October.
The ceremony will involve the full regal dress of the order and all the pageantry associated with such a rare and prestigious event.
The Governor General of New Zealand will do the actual dubbing ritual with the silver broadsword reserved specifically for Knighthood ceremonies.
"I feel this to be a great honour and acknowledgement," said Rispin.
Long-time friend and co-worker Gladys Eggenberger perhaps sums up best how Rispin's peers feel about him.
"Whenever he was asked to do any type of duty he was always completely willing, extremely capable and very reliable."
As for Rispin, retirement doesn't mean he'll no longer be active.
"Retiring only means that you advance in a different direction. Instead of someone telling you that you have to work, you do it simply because you want to."
