Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) BB #:153602 business community is saddened by the passing of Donald H. Rhyno, a legendary figure in the Canadian produce industry.
Donald served on the CPMA’s Board and was the Association’s Chair in 1992. He is also a recipient of several awards in recognition of his contributions to the industry including the Produce Person of the Year in 1988 and CPMA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
CPMA offers its deepest sympathies to Donald’s family. A Celebration of his life will be held on August 13, 2024.
The following obituary was posted by Smith’s Funeral Homes:
Donald H. Rhyno, 1947-2024
Some people just make life better. Don was one of these people. People simply enjoyed him and wanted to be around him. His strategic mind and high character transformed businesses and made him a mentor who called people higher. His sharp wit, generosity, and deep respect and care for people defined him.
Don grew up in Halifax, NS with his sister, Debbie (MacAskill), and their parents, Doris and Howard Rhyno. He was the cherished husband of his wife Linda (Brown) Rhyno for 54 years. They began dating at age 14. After they graduated from Halifax West and then Halifax Institute for Technology and married in 1969, they began building a life of love, encouragement, and mutual respect. Theirs was a beautiful love story, blessed over the years with two children, and later their spouses and three grandchildren.
Don and Linda’s love story became even sweeter as Don found life in Jesus Christ in the early 2000s. As the two of them began to worship the Lord together and build a biblical community, Don grew as a man of the Word who was faithful in prayer and deeds- truly alive in Jesus.
Once dubbed “Don, the thinker” by coworkers in the produce industry, in which he worked for 50 years, Don was passionate and inventive. He was honest and forthright, building a culture of innovation and strong ethics that he also modeled to his family.
A hero to his daughter, Jane (Rene), Don inspired her admiration and influenced her course. Wherever he was, she wanted to be, from shadowing him around as a girl to following his legacy into the produce business. He was her mentor, both personally and professionally and they maintained that connection right up to Don’s passing.
Don’s son Scott (Elizabeth) of Indiana, USA learned from his dad integrity, generosity, and humility. Scott watched how Don taught ethics and skills as a Boy Scout leader, how he loved and prioritized his wife, served people in the business world with encouragement and strength, and later in life became a follower of Jesus. He wanted to emulate the same things. Don started to enjoy tuning in to Waterline Church on Sundays to hear Scott preach, even including his caregivers in his final months.
Don was proud of each grandchild, Mackenzie, Morgan, and Grace Rhyno, of Indiana, USA. Each time he’d talk about or pray for them he’d well up with pride, always championing their hard work and responsibility. He also enjoyed how each of them had inherited his quick wit. Don loved traveling to spend time with them, being their “crusty but fair” driving instructor, cruising together in the Caribbean, and just being their “Deepa.”
Don and Linda loved being a part of Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel in Calgary AB. There they developed a rich biblical community by hosting friends, playing cards, and sharing life and prayer together. The depth of their community continues to this day.
Don always cared deeply for people to come to know Jesus as Savior. And even in his later days, he regularly called out to the Lord in prayer.
He held on to this Scripture passage from Colossians 1:9-14
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
With his wife and children by his side, Don was ushered into the presence of Jesus July 21, 2024, experiencing freedom from his 6-year journey with Lewy Body Dementia. His faith has now become sight, and he has heard Jesus say “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Though his family grieves, they do so with hope, knowing he is now HOME.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel, 8241-31 East Street SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2C 1H9, on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. If unable to attend, condolences and prayers can be sent to Linda and their family at Smith’s Funeral Home
Memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer Society
