Lois Ridgway, RVT
Home Province: Saskatchewan
Education: Diploma Biological Sciences (AHT option);
SIAST – Kelsey Campus 1981 – 1983
Workplace Training: TDG Certification, Biosafety, Laboratory Safety, Supervision,
Leadership and HR training, hoist operator training, alkaline hydrolysis Tissue Digester Operator training
Work Experience:
- 2017 – Present Assistant Manager, Quality Assurance – PDS Inc
- 2011-2017 (on leave) Area Supervisor, Necropsy Facility – PDS Inc
- 1999-2011 Supervisor, Necropsy Facility & Diagnostic Services Office – PDS Inc
- 1991-1997 Supervisor, Necropsy Facility – Department of Veterinary Pathology
- 1983-1991 Tech I, II, & III – Department of Veterinary Pathology
Previous Board/ Committee Experience:
Positions Held:
- WCVM Animal Health Technology (VT) Committee: 1988 – 2010
- position held – Pathology Rotation Representative
- South Corman Park Community Association: 2001 – Present;
- positions held – Board Member & Secretary
- PDS Statutory OH&S Committee: 2003 – Present;
- Positions held – Member & Secretary
- WCVM OH&S Committee: June 1995 to Present
- SAVT Board of Directors: 2001 – 2006 (dual appointment with CAAHTT)
- Position held: CAAHTT Representative
- CAAHTT Board of Directors: 2001 – 2008;
- Positions held: SAVT Representative (2001- 2006); Vice President (2002-2006); President (2006-2008)
- SAVT Advisory Council (2008-2015)
- SAVT Board of Directors (2014-current)
- SAVT-SVMA Council Liaison (2018-present)
- Saskatoon Youth Soccer Inc. Board of Directors: 2009 – 2012;
- positions held – Board Member & Vice President
- Pathology Club, WCVM – 2006 – Present
- Executive Member
*CAAHTT is now know as RVTTC
What do you hope to bring to the table or describe great things you are doing:
Life and career experience, business, and organization governance knowledge, resilience, tact, diplomacy, problem solving, maintenance and repair skills, HR strategies, political savvy
Personal life including pets and hobbies:
Rental property owner; travel; rural and acreage life – crop sharing alfalfa (and gophers); hobbies include sewing, crafts, gardening, painting, and small wood working projects
Other Information You Want to Share:
I grew up on a mixed farm near Meadow Lake, SK with my parents, three brothers, a herd of commercial beef cattle, hundreds of laying hens, geese and broilers, several pleasure horses, dogs and cats. I was surrounded by an evolving rotation of farm machinery, trucks, cars, motorcycles, and ski-doos – a new toy every year! It was a great childhood where working the land was richly rewarded. I grasped the mystery of veterinary medicine at age 3 when I could not figure out the dilemma created when our veterinarian determined that a Hereford steer (they are red and white) died from “Blackleg” – really?! These were the days before vaccinations were common practice and certainly long before Dr. Google offered any medical advice. I was curious and needed to pursue a deeper understanding of things veterinary related and from a career perspective, I have pursued my passion in anatomic pathology. I currently share my work with a husband, two grown sons, and three cats – Speaker, Miss Kitty, and Dancer (a rescue sweetheart who often expresses “Torbi-tude”).
