732 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2021
The May family has been farming in Richmond since the 1880s, and
although Ralph opted to study the law, he remained true to his roots,
embarking on a 45-year career advising farmers and their families. Ralph
was a pioneer, bringing a level of sophistication, service and understanding
to a previously underrepresented segment of the community. Ralph
became an expert in marketing boards, the quota system, the newly minted
Agricultural Land Reserve, expropriations and the Income Tax Act as it pertained
to farm succession planning. He was a tireless advocate with respect
to legal matters affecting farmers. Ralph was largely responsible for amendments
to the Land Title Act making it easier for farmers to enter into longterm
leases with landowners for unused portions of agricultural lands. He
worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands resulting in the changes
coming into effect in the summer of 2007.
Ralph had an innate ability to take complicated legal matters and explain
them in a straightforward, simple manner that was meaningful to his
clients—and they loved him for it. He became a trusted advisor to generations
of farmers throughout the province. Ralph eschewed the suit and tie
favoured by his chosen profession for jeans, boots and a cowboy hat. On
more than one occasion, Ralph remarked that as soon as he stopped wearing
a tie, he got busier. To his clients, he was one of them. You could always
tell when Ralph had made a farm visit or had clients in for a meeting by the
trail of mud down the carpeted office halls. The farm visits had their own
lore. On one occasion after an early-morning visit, Ralph was invited for
breakfast. When Ralph accepted, his client reached down to the floor and
picked up a frying pan from which a dog was busily licking up its morning
meal and proceeded to crack a couple of eggs, asking Ralph, “How many
would you like?” Knowing Ralph, he would have taken it in stride and
enjoyed his breakfast.
Ralph’s expertise and his dedication to education made him a frequent
speaker on farming issues. He presented at the annual courses offered by
the Ministry of Agriculture; to dairy, ranching and berry associations; to
marketing boards and farmers’ cooperatives; and to numerous other agriculture
related groups. In doing so, he provided an invaluable legal education
to the farming community, other lawyers and accountants.
Ralph’s connection with the farming community was more than professional
in nature. In the 1980s, Ralph (along with his father and brother) purchased
and operated a cattle ranch in Lumby, B.C.—a wonderful adventure
but apparently not a financial success. When embarking on this endeavour,
Ralph failed to heed the advice of a client who told him that “if anyone offers
to give you a ranch, you give it back real quick before you lose money.” A