Kanegawa: Richard, October 8, 2020

Long-time farmer, rancher, and entrepreneur, Richard Kanegawa, Calgary, died of a recurring lung condition on October 8, 2020. He was 90.

Richard may have been best-known for his Heritage Inn hotels, first built in 1974 in Taber, then expanded to seven other locations. Those full-facility Inns hosted many cattlemen/farmer meetings and gatherings.

Interned with his family at Lethbridge from New Westminster, B.C., during WWII, he and his brother Stan began potato farming in the region. They diversified into sugar beets and wheat.

Richard later raised both commercial and purebred beef cattle, mainly Simmentals. He became known as the “Japanese Cowboy” – a moniker he embraced, said his daughter Sandra.

In the 1960s, Richard and several Vauxhall-area cattlemen, where Kanegawa Farms Ltd. operated, imported a Simmental bull from Switzerland. They paid an astounding $100,000, which is about $800,000 in today’s dollars. Richard also dabbled in the Maine-Anjou and Limousin breeds.

Said Ray Speaker, a retired Alberta MLA and Federal MP, and a neighbour at Enchant, “Richard was a great leader in the cattle and hospitality industry. I recall his entrepreneurship in each.”

Richard traveled worldwide to seek the views from the world’s tallest buildings, and to taste the best seafood anywhere, “but knowing nothing could beat Alberta beef and potatoes,” stated daughter Shelley.

Kanegawa’s wife Suyeko (Sue) survives him, along with three daughters, Sandra, Shelley, and Susan, and their families.