Westlock County’s deputy reeve Conrad Sehn has died at the age of 67.
Sehn was approaching the end of his second term on Westlock County council, to which he was first elected representing the Busby and Pickardville areas on Oct. 15, 2007.
Reeve Charles Navratil said Sehn died at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 23. “He’s going to be missed,” he said.
Sehn was no stranger to public service, having served as a councillor in Athabasca from 1982-1984 and as a Lac La Biche school board trustee from 1978-1981. He also unsuccessfully ran for county council in 1998.
Looking back, Navratil said he was thankful for the time he got to spend working alongside Sehn, recalling the man as a straight shooter who wasn’t afraid to let you know what he thought.
“It was great. He was a good guy,” he said. “Conrad didn’t beat around the bush. If he had something to tell you he told you, and he didn’t pull any punches.”
Navratil said he last spoke to Sehn on Saturday, Jan. 19, during a visit at the University of Alberta hospital in Edmonton, noting he was glad to have spent that time with him.
“It’s a terrible thing he went so quick, but if he wasn’t going to come out of it then it was a godsend that he went so quick.”
County manager Edward LeBlanc said while he didn’t have much of a chance to know Sehn personally, he had a lot of respect for the man as a councillor.
“Conrad was well-respected; he was a thoughtful man, a kind man and he always had his constituents in mind at council,” LeBlanc said.
Sehn was often cracking jokes in the council chamber during breaks in the meeting, and sometimes during the meetings.
“He did add a certain flavour to council,” he said. “He will certainly be missed.”
As far as a possible by-election, Navratil said he didn’t think it would be likely but it is a decision council will have to discuss at the next meeting.
Given the fact there is only about nine months until the next scheduled municipal election on Oct. 21, 2013, he said it might not make sense to have one.
“It would seem to me that there probably won’t be a byelection, but we’ll see what the public and council thinks,” he said.
Sehn had been absent from several recent council meetings due to his deteriorating health.
Coun. Jim Wiese was unanimously elected as the interim deputy reeve at the Jan. 22 meeting. Westlock County policy is to rotate councillors through the position for six-month periods.
A prayer service will be held Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. and a Mass of Christian Burial will be held Jan. 30 at 10 a.m., both at the St. Emerence Church in Riviere Qui Barre. Internment will follow at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Busby.
