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Frank Richter Jr.
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Francis Xavier Richter Jr. (July 12, 1910[1] – November 20, 1977) was a Canadian politician who served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia, representing the riding of Similkameen from 1953 to 1966 and its successor riding Boundary-Similkameen from 1966 to 1975. Part of the Social Credit Party caucus, he was a cabinet minister under Premier W. A. C. Bennett, and served briefly as Leader of the Opposition following Bennett's resignation in 1973.
Key Information
Biography
[edit]Born in Keremeos, British Columbia,[1] he was the youngest son of Florence Elizabeth Loudon and Frank Richter Sr., who settled in the Similkameen Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia in 1864 and became a successful rancher and entrepreneur there. The elder Richter had five daughters and six sons, of whom the youngest was Frank Jr.
Originally a cattle rancher and fruit grower,[1] Richter ran in the 1953 provincial election as a Social Credit (Socred) candidate, and was elected MLA for Similkameen.[2]: 250 He was re-elected there in 1956 and 1960,[2]: 270, 280 and was named Minister of Agriculture by Premier W. A. C. Bennett in November 1960;[3] he kept the portfolio following his re-election in 1963.[2]: 290
Similkameen was redistributed into the new riding of Boundary-Similkameen in the 1966 election; Richter was re-elected there,[2]: 295 and stayed on as agriculture minister before being re-assigned in May 1968, serving concurrently as Minister of Commercial Transport and Minister of Mines and Petroleum Resources.[3] He won re-election in 1969,[2]: 305 and retained both cabinet roles until the Socreds' defeat in 1972.[3] Richter kept his seat in the legislature,[2]: 313 and became Leader of the Opposition after W. A. C. Bennett resigned as MLA in June 1973, serving until Bill Bennett took over that November.[4] He did not run in the 1975 election.
He married his first wife Ina Gadberry in 1933, then met his second wife Sylvia Reveley while working at the Ministry of Mines.[5] He died at Brentwood Bay at the age of 67.[6]
References
[edit]- Encyclopedia of Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of British Columbia: Volume 2, The Similkameen, Boundary and Okanagan, T.W. Paterson, Sunfire Publications, Langley B.C. (1981) ISBN 0-88983-027-4
- Strangers Entertained: A History of the Ethnic Groups of British Columbia, John Norris, British Columbia Centenenial '71 Committee, Evergreen Press, Vancouver (1971) (no ISBN)
- ^ a b c Normandin, P G (1965). Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1965.
- ^ a b c d e f "Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986" (PDF). Elections BC. pp. 250, 270, 280, 290, 295, 305, 313. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
- ^ a b c Bennett, Judith Antonik; Verspoor, Frederike (1989). "British Columbia Executive Council Appointments: 1871-1986" (PDF). British Columbia Legislative Library. p. 58. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
- ^ "Leaders of the Official Opposition of British Columbia" (PDF). British Columbia Legislative Library. October 30, 2024. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
- ^ "Sylvia Richter Obituary (1917 - 2016)". Times-Colonist. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
- ^ "Vital Event Death Registration". BC Archives. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2011.