News file photo
Rita Bessant, the executive director of the CORE Association, said they have hundreds of yearly clients to assist, which legacy funding helps with in a big way.
@MedicineHatNews
The CORE Association will operate at reduced capacity Friday to allow staff and clients to remember Rita Bessant, the long-time executive director and advocate for those with intellectual disabilities in the city.
Bessant, who retired after 43-year career at the end of 2023, died on Feb. 22 at the age of 78.
Current executive director Wendy Ebach worked with Bessant for several decades and told the News on Wednesday that Bessant had a tremendously positive effect on the lives of Hatters with developmental delays.
She would be remembered for her “really unparalleled commitment to the people we serve – it’s hard to put it into words.”
Core Association board chair Jill Denman echoed the sentiment saying that Bessant was adept at working with clientele, lobbying government and advocating in the community for support and acceptance.
She also had a large circle of friends and had planned to travel after stepping back from work late last year.
“It was really a shock,” said Ebach. “We all would have hoped that she would have had more opportunity to enjoy her retirement.”
City councillor Andy McGrogan told the News that he became friends with Bessant when he studied CORE as part of a university class in management he took while a senior official with the Medicine Hat Police Service.
“She was a great lady who really cared about the vulnerable people in our community,” said McGrogan, who added the the pair became closer as they both had adult children who had passed away.
A memorial service is scheduled for Friday at Cook Southland Funeral Chapel beginning at 11 a.m. Livestream viewing is also available.
Arrangements are being made to work with reduced staff and allow clients to attend the funeral or otherwise reflect.
Bessant got into public service in 1978 by starting a local self-help group in the city. In 1980 she worked as a supervisor at what was then called the Kinsmen Training Centre at the CORE Association building on Third Street.
She was also a president of the local chapter of the John Howard Society in the 1990s
