Robert Edward Simmons

Passed away peacefully in his sleep at Wellington Terrace Long-term Care Home, Guelph, Ontario. Survived by his wife June, children Anna, Barbara, Charlie and stepchildren Aaron and Jonathan, and sisters Jo and Connie.

Bob was born in Byron, Ontario, one of four children born to James and Sara Simmons. Bob's father was ill through Bob's teenage years and died when Bob was 19, leaving Sara to largely support her family by working as a teacher and then a librarian. Bob stayed close to his mother; Sara's grave lies in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, with the quote Bob selected carved on it: "Everything that lives is holy." Bob's childhood was spent on the family's small farm, and he spent hours reading in the barn with his siblings. Bob was athletic in school: on the football and track teams as a pole-vaulter, and often on the same sports teams as his older brother Jim, notably being pitcher and catcher for their senior high school championship team. Bob remained a devoted Blue Jays fan to the end.

After high school, Bob travelled and held various jobs, including at the National Film Board of Canada, and teaching ESL in Spain. While working in Ottawa, he obtained his private pilot's license, remarking that taking off and actually flying were easy but returning to earth made him very nervous! His sister Jo recalls watching his lessons with great enjoyment.

In 1962, Bob married Doreen Uren of Ingersoll, Ontario, and over the next seven years they had three children, Anna, Barbara and Charlie. The expansion of Ontario's university system created an opportunity for the young family and so, while Doreen taught piano and worked as an accompanist and vocal coach, Bob went back to school, obtaining his Masters of Philosophy degree from the University of Toronto. This experience, including classes with Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye, intensified Bob's lifelong love of literature, learning, and writing, which he got to pass on to many generations of students when he was hired as a professor in English at Glendon College, York University in 1966. Bob and Doreen often hosted young musicians and writers at their home, including M.T. Kelly, Alice Munro and others. In this era, Bob further developed his lifelong love of music, ranging from Bob Dylan - especially "Desolation Row" - and country and western singers - especially Patsy Cline - to opera - especially sopranos Lois Marshall and Leontyne Price - and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs.

Bob taught for many years at York, including several terms as Chair of the English department. He co-authored a linguistics textbook with a colleague as well as a geography textbook with his brother Jim, who was by then a professor at the University of Toronto. Bob's range of teaching was remarkable, including poetry, creative writing, and the great English novelists. Bob's great literary love was William Blake, whose poetry and vision of the human condition deeply affected him and influenced his own writing and creative work. Bob often quoted Blake's mantra: "God is the Imagination".

In 1985, Bob met his life partner June Blair, and became stepfather to Aaron and Jonathan. Bob and June met on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend while June was finishing her PhD in philosophy. They married in November 1995, in Halifax, where June had become a faculty member of St Mary's University. Their years together included stints living and teaching in Prince Edward Island, in Halifax, and international travel as well. After Bob retired from Glendon College in 2000, he came full circle back to his rural roots, moving with June (and their dog Tiger!) to a farm near Chesley, Ontario. Here Bob explored his creative side further, creating visual art works, writing and directing two community theatre musicals "Dam Neighbours!" and "Dam Nation!" and acting in many productions. Bob never lost his love of teaching - he also taught creative writing weekly at the local library for four years, wrote a play about Hamlet's Gertrude, and edited a book and a play by local authors. And of course, Bob and June looked after an ever-diminishing flock of hens, including the famous chicken Blondie who bonded with Bob, sitting under his chair on the deck at dusk and being escorted by Bob back to the safety of the barn as night fell.

Later, they relocated to Guelph, Ontario where June's son Aaron and grandchildren, and Bob's son Charlie and grandchildren live.

Bob had a remarkable life, well-lived. His friends and family remember him with love and hilarity - his legendary love of puns, his passion for apple pie, his dedication to Tim Horton's coffee and TimBits, his willingness to drive to early morning hockey practice, Saturday afternoon horseback riding lessons, and his ability to eat liver - as a treat!

Anna, Barbara, Charlie, Aaron and Jonathan remember Bob as a parent who would always play, make up stories like "The Adventures of the Big Blue Bird", and could be relied on to come up with party games for any group, any age of kids at the drop of a hat. Bob's nieces and nephews remember him as a quiet, gentle and supportive uncle who alway held space for the shy ones in a group. Many extended family members remember those big Thanksgiving get-togethers at the farm, with Urens, Blairs, Simmons', Proctors, and Telfords all contributing to massive pot-luck feasts by the shores of the Saugeen River.

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to Man as it is, infinite." - William Blake

A celebration of Bob's life will be held on Tuesday, August 13, from 1 to 4 pm, in Guelph at Gilbert MacIntyre & Son, Dublin Chapel, 252 Dublin St. N. Guelph, N1H4P3.

All are welcome. Please RSVP to Barb Simmons at [email protected]

Donations in Bob's memory to Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington https://alzheimer.ca/ww/en are gratefully accepted.