Helga Reidel, Windsor’s first female chief administrative officer and former president and CEO of Enwin Utilities, passed away Nov. 5 at 66 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Born in Leamington and raised in Windsor, Reidel graduated from the University of Windsor and built a career that spanned municipal government, business, education and public service. She served as the City’s CAO from 2009 to 2016 before leading Enwin from 2016 to 2022.
Reidel also served as chair of the University of Windsor Board of Governors and sat on several major boards, including Hydro One, Corby Spirit and Wine, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
In a social media post, Mayor Drew Dilkens called Reidel “one of our community’s true champions.”
“Helga was the first female CAO for Windsor and the first female CEO for ENWIN,” Dilkens wrote. “Through key roles touching public service, governance, education, economic development, cross-border transportation and trade, and more, Helga has been an inspiration to the teams she led, to women in the working world, and to everyone lucky enough to consider her a colleague and friend.”
Dilkens noted City Council honoured Reidel earlier this year by naming a boardroom at Windsor City Hall in her honour, recognizing “the incredible difference she made” during her career and her more than three decades of service to the community.
Reidel is survived by her husband, Rolf, three sons and five grandchildren.
Donations in her memory can be made to the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation or Pancreatic Cancer Canada.