Robert "Bob" McWhirter

The McWhirter family is deeply saddened to announce the passing of our beloved dad and grandpa, Bob McWhirter. Bob passed away absolutely peacefully with three daughters, Katherine, Joy and Helen and granddaughter Isabella at his bedside in Oceanside Hospice early on the morning of December 9.

Born in Ayr, Scotland in the summer of 1930, Robert, as he was known to his own family, grew up on a sheep farm in the west of Scotland. Robert was an only child, having lost his younger sister tragically when she was only three. At the tender age of 17 he began his apprenticeship as a Chartered Accountant in Glasgow, living in digs in the city through the week and returning to the farm at weekends. Six months into his education his mum died of kidney failure and Robert soldiered on for the next five years before qualifying as a CA.

In 1952, Bob was obliged to complete his military service and joined the Royal Air Force that year, stationed in Germany. During a visit home, on a blind date, he met Sybil Robertson a vivacious, out-going, beautiful girl, the perfect complement to Bob’s shy, self-conscious good looks. He became swept up in her fun-loving family who often hosted parties where members of the Glasgow Rangers Football Club (many of them Scottish national soccer team players) attended. What a change from the quiet, isolated sheep farm in Ayrshire!

Bob had been encouraged to immigrate to Canada by his own father who had made numerous trips to the ‘New World’ to curl and to watch curling. The opportunities were so much more plentiful than a struggling post-war Scotland. In 1956 Bob left home for Montreal and Sybil followed on a trial basis, to see if Canada suited her. Whether it did or not, she was in love with Bob and they were married on June 1, 1957. Their first daughter, Katherine, was born in 1959 but like so many immigrants, their homesickness got the better of them and they returned to Scotland. Again, like so many before them, they realized their future looked

brighter overseas after all. Bob took a job with an accounting firm in Edmonton, Alberta.

Two more daughters, Joy and Helen, were born in Edmonton and as our parents liked to say the family survived 13 winters before pulling up stakes again and heading for Vancouver Island. Dad had visited Victoria on a work trip and came home telling our mum the climate and the scenery reminded him of the west coast of Scotland.

Parksville ticked all three boxes on their list: a Presbyterian church, a golf course nearby and schools for “the girls”. In 1973, they made this place their home for the next 50-odd years. Although Dad had moved without any job lined up, an accountant can usually find work anywhere. Eventually, Bob and Sybil realized their dream of running their own business and opened a carpet store, Belleisle Carpets, which they operated successfully for 11 years.

Their social life consisted of golfing and curling, get-togethers with other ex-pat Scots who were all members of St. Columba Church including barbecues, post-Christmas Eve soirees and New Year’s Eve parties that Sybil and Bob enthusiastically hosted at their beautiful waterfront home.

Although an excellent math student (Dad could add a row of numbers in his head quicker sometimes than his fingers could type into an adding machine), Bob loved language and poetry. He was a long-time member of the Nanaimo Burns Club, memorizing and reciting many long Burns poems, the highlight of which was The Address to the Haggis performed at many Burns Suppers over the years. A great reader, Bob did crosswords and word puzzles until the very end and could unravel an anagram almost on sight.

Predeceased by the love of his life, Sybil, in 2020, Bob is survived by his three daughters, Katherine (Barrie Abbott), Joy and Helen; grandchildren Callum, Isabella and Fiona; and Sybil’s sister, Irene Williams of Hamilton, Scotland. He

will be interred next to Mum in The Garden at St. Columba Presbyterian Church. A celebration of Bob’s life will be held at the family home on June 1, 2024.

The family would like to thank the wonderful medical staff at Oceanside Hospice and all the VIHA home care workers who made Bob’s last days so peaceful and comfortable.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to a charity of your choice. Bob gave very generously to a large number of causes, teaching his children and grandchildren to do the same. He was a huge supporter of his daughters Joy and Helen’s charity, Nakujali Education Partnerships, bettering the lives of young people in Tanzania. It would make Bob smile to think some people might consider sending funds there at this time.