Robert William Blenkiron

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dear Dad, who had far more than 9 lives.

He was born in a 2-room log home in a remote Quebec mining town. The family moved to Jamaica when he was 11. He was sent back to Canada at 15 after a polio outbreak and attended Luther College with boys twice his size and several years older.

During his life, he managed to burn down his church, partied one New Year’s with JFK and family, and smuggle diamonds out of revolutionary Cuba. In between stringing up hydro cables for Sask Power, during both withering heat and cold, he was a union agitator, dated Tommy Douglas’ daughter, crash landed in a plane on a frozen lake, and had umpteen dozen accidents in cars.

He met Judy one night after a wedding. Arriving at his buddy’s place late that night, he announced that he was getting married.

Daughter #1, Kathleen, was born in Regina, SK, costing them their adult-only apartment. Bob was offered a job with Alcan, the company his dad worked for, which led to the migration to Kitimat, BC, where daughter #2, Heather, was born. Shortly after, he joined BC Hydro to help get the new transmission line from Terrace to Kitimat, which included at least one helicopter crash.

They bought a house in a quiet valley on the edge of View Royal and set down roots. He worked as regional safety manager with BC Hydro, covering every nook and cranny of Van. Island as he educated employees & fire depts on safety, while wrecking a company car a year. He investigated all hydro related deaths, which took its toll at times, but he believed in what he did.

He completed his Power Squadron sail training and first owned an O’Day 21’, whose mast broke while sailing off the Victoria waterfront. After that adventure, we spent summer holidays tooling around the Gulf islands in Serendipity, a 27’ Catalina, which instilled in us a love of the sea.

In 1990, he bought a local wooden tugboat, the Eagle, formerly owned by Victoria Plywood, with the plan being to fix it up and spend his retirement years with Judy, cruising the west coast and up to Alaska. While life got in the way, the tugboat, safely moored in the backyard, continued to be a source of inspiration – not to mention raising eyebrows and earning him the nickname “Noah.”

After he retired from Hydro in 2004 to care for Judy, it took three people to fill his shoes. After her death in December 2004, he became active both with the View Royal Emergency Social Services and as a world traveler, going to Europe, where Heather and her family lived, exploring France, England, and beyond. In 2006, he took his grandson, Jordan, over too.

Bob was a tinkerer par excellence. He was always banging and sawing away, fixing this or that, building shelves, worktables, spice racks, utensil organizers and more. He was always quick to help fix things around the house, even when visiting his children's homes.

Our Dad, and his rock solid presence, will be deeply missed. While he might not have been liked at times by those he had to hold to account, he was always deeply respected and dearly loved by those who knew him well.

He was humorous, engaging, and smart -- a classically principled man, with a strong sense of justice and fair play. He sent out daily emails to a ton of people in hopes of making them laugh or think.

Left to miss him dearly are his daughters, Kathleen (Don) and Heather (Marc); grandsons, Jordan, Steven, Emile, and Justin; his younger siblings, Jack (Diane) and Liz (Mike); and sister-in-law, Nansi. Predeceased by his parents, Jack and Pollyanna; wife, Judy; and youngest brother, Richard.

The memorials, both in Victoria and Saskatchewan are yet to come, and we’ll announce more information in the coming weeks. Rest easy Dad. Xoxo

-