March 21, 1931- July 16, 2006
After a lengthy battle with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Bob passed away peacefully and with dignity, his family by his side. Bob will be missed by all his loved ones, friends, and by all the staff at the Heritage Village Care Facility
Bob was born in Vancouver, raised in New Westminster, resided in Coquitlam for many years and retired to Chilliwack in 1996 to be near the Harrison Lake cottage.
He was predeceased by his only infant child, Robert James, in 1975, and parents Dorthea and Wyndel Ballantyne of New Westminster.
He will be deeply missed by his wife Val, stepson Brad Grone (Kim) and his adored granddaughter Kennedy and grandson Aidan. Bob leaves his sister Judy Kukucha of New Westminster, her sons Chris and Steve, and his much loved Uncle, Bill Swarbrick of California.
Bob began his career working for the City of New Westminster, moving on to the umbrella of GT&E (General Telephone & Electronics) companies, specializing in Video, Voice & Data communications. He was employed by Canadian Telephone & Supplies, Lenkurt Electric Co. of Canada, which later became Microtel. He retired in 1989 after thirty-three years of service.
Bob traveled extensively on behalf of the company and was considered the company’s pioneer in Saudi Arabia where he lived for a number of years with his family.
His main love in life was the cottage on Harrison Lake which he, Val, Brad and family members worked on and enjoyed for 30 years, and his black Lab, Samantha.
He was an avid fan of audio systems, never throwing anything out, but purchasing state-of-the-art equipment (the more knobs the better) regularly – we think this was to compensate for his tone-deafness. Many a time Bob would join into the fray and give his own off-key rendition of “Bobby Magee”, guitar in hand (which he played badly).
Bob has suffered greatly for the past several years from this very rare and debilitating disease and hopefully he is enjoying a reunion with his dog Sam.
A special thanks for the support of son Brad, Bob & Karin Gervan of Harrison Lake who were always there for him and Val, the wonderful, caring neighbors of Maple Hills Estates, the Wednesday night bridge group, the PROBUS members of Chilliwack, Val’s sisters Donna Greenwood and Doreen Marcoux, Dr. Mark Mackenzie, Neurologist Dr. Constantino of Abbotsford, Physiotherapist Lawrence Wong and the Parkinson’s Support Group of Chilliwack. The compassionate and caring staff at The Waverley, Eden and Heritage Village Care homes assures one that angels do indeed exist.
Bob has requested that no service or memorial be held.