Families in Focus

When Randy Woroniuk set out to become a conservation officer, it was with the philosophy to protect the environment for future generations. And his passion for nature and protecting what he loved did end up influencing future generations – including his children, as two out of three of them followed in his footsteps to Lethbridge College and to careers in the environment and justice. Randy graduated from the Renewable Resource Management program in 1982.

He is now retired and takes tremendous joy from outdoor activities, like hunting and hiking, and he also served as mayor of Gimli, Man., from 2014 to 2018. His eldest son, Nicholas, graduated from the Natural Resource Compliance program in 2015, and he now works as a conservation officer in The Pas, Man. Randy’s youngest son, Tyler, took a similar route in enforcement and graduated from the Criminal Justice-Policing program in 2014; he currently works as a Canadian Border Services officer in Emerson, Man. And while Randy’s daughter didn’t attend Lethbridge College, she maintained the family philosophy of being of service to society and works as an advanced paramedic in Morinville, Alta. In addition to all of these family ties, Randy also has a cousin, Bryana Nicholas, who graduated from the college with a diploma in Renewable Resource Management in 2011.

“The reason I went to Lethbridge College was because it had the best program” for what he wanted to study, Randy explains. “The college experience gave me footing, and I had a fantastic career as a natural resource officer for 32 years.

Our environment is very important, and throughout my career, I always felt I was protecting our natural resources for future generations. We need people to look after it, and I was one of those people fortunate enough to have a career doing that.”

The culture at Lethbridge College had a big impact on Randy. He remembers it fondly as a place of diversity with an inviting environment, which was encouraging for a student living two provinces from home.

“I talked with my sons a lot about what I learned at the college and my boys said, ‘this is the place to go!’” Randy recalls. “I encouraged them to leave home and experience the world on their own, and Lethbridge College was the perfect venue to do it, because of the welcoming nature of the school and the people. I’m very proud of them.”