Robert Sutherland

ROBERT “BOB” SUTHERLAND of Lethbridge, Alberta died October 5, 2016 at the age of 94. He lived with several serious health conditions over the last year which eventually overtook him. Bob was married to Doris (Waugh) for 68 years and their love and friendship was always the centrepiece of their lives. Later Bob was sole caregiver for Doris as she declined into Alzheimer’s disease, treating her with great kindness and consideration until her death. Bob was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His parents Henry Sutherland and Jean Davidson were immigrants from the Northern Islands and Highlands of Scotland. The family had a tailor shop in Winnipeg until the Great Depression when it closed and the family, including younger brother Donald, headed to Toronto, Ontario. They were stopped in North Bay and lived in a tent through one winter, with Henry tailoring until they had the resources to finish their trip. The family ran a successful tailor shop for many years in Toronto. Bob enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy at the beginning of WWII. He was stationed in Shelbourne, Nova Scotia, where he lived with his new bride Doris, serving as a Chief Petty Officer, using his technical skills to repair electrical systems on ships. After the war, they returned to Toronto where their only child Robert James was born. Bob was an avid golfer and a very competitive bowler. They had many, very long-lasting friendships and especially enjoyed trips to Florida with family and friends. Over his entire life Bob was the kind of person that many turned to for help. He was always there, from the time that he stopped his formal education to go to work to enable his brother to attend university, to managing a little credit union branch to help co-workers with small loans, to looking after members of the family when they experienced crises. His engagement with others was always marked by intelligence, diligence and good humour. He was fiercely independent, but even to the end he always tried to make people smile or laugh. Bob always expressed how lucky he felt to have lived a full and good life. He was admired and loved by his son and daughter-in-law, Rob and Janice, his grandchildren Nicholas James (Amanda Mondragon), Alexina Louise (Denis Landry), Katrina Jean (Greg Burland), Erika Skye (Dan Gibbons) and Dylan Robert, his great-grandchildren Daniel and Claire, as well as Margaret Misurka and many other nieces and nephews. A family service will be held at a later date.

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