After decades of battling first the oil and gas industry, and finally esophageal cancer, outspoken eco-activist Wiebo Ludwig passed away Monday morning.
Ludwig's fight with oil and gas companies started in the late 1990s where his attempts to block oil and gas development in his area made headlines, then in 2001, he was convicted in connection to a gas well site bombing – serving 28 months in prison.
In 2010, he was arrested and questioned after a series of bombings of oil pipelines; however he was released without charge.
In recent years, Ludwig had fought cancer of the esophagus, in late 2011 he said he had been looking into alternative treatments for the illness, as he felt surgery and radiation were too invasive.
A University of Alberta professor, and Ludwig acquaintance, said the man was prepared in his final days, and had even built his own coffin.
"He had good spirits, and he was prepared for the end," Professor Paul Joosse said. "He had made his own coffin, and was sort of just trying to make peace with his Lord."
In a statement, Ludwig's son said his father passed away Monday morning, surrounded by family and close friends at his Trickle Creek farm, near Hythe, Alberta – and said Ludwig would be remembered as a "loving husband, father and grandfather, a dear friend…a committed shepherd, or as he often described himself ‘Christ's unworthy servant'."
Ludwig is survived by his wife, and children.
With files from Sean Amato
