Robert John LAWRENCE

1946 - 2023

ROBERT ("BOB") JOHN LAWRENCE December 28, 1946 - November 22, 2023 It is with great sadness that the family of Bob Lawrence announces his passing after a brief illness and the end of a journey with dementia. Bob was predeceased by his loving wife Muriel in 2020 after 48 years of marriage. They leave behind their two boys, Scott (Karen) and Michael (Tara), and their four incredible grandchildren – Matthew, Evelyn, Claire, and Emma. Bob joins his mother, father, and younger brother Jim, and leaves behind his sisters Alice and Mary. Bob grew up in Malton and West Deane Park (Etobicoke) and enjoyed playing hockey and roaming the creeks with his companion Buddy (the dog), and graduated high school prior to starting his career in sales for Carnation. As a traveling salesperson, he covered grocery stores across southwestern Ontario and was renowned for his ability to navigate and provide directions to almost anywhere – a virtual GPS without an internet connection needed. After marrying Muriel and moving to his longtime home in Thornhill in the early 1970s, he started his career with Minute Maid and Coca-Cola where sales and foodservice was his calling. However, his love and support of family, neighbours and his hockey team-mates was his passion, as was coaching the various hockey teams that his sons participated in. Bob was a dedicated family man, and beyond his life-long love of hockey, he enjoyed long drives, sampling new beers, working the grills, and the best part of any meal – the ice cream and pie. A man of routine, Bob was able to enjoy a few short years in a dream home in Bracebridge with Muriel where they could relax in the quiet community and visit their grandchildren at the Cottage on Lake Rosseau. To help celebrate Bob's life, friends are invited to join the family at the Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles – Newbigging Chapel (1403 Bayview Avenue in East York) on November 27 from 2-4 pm and 6-9 pm. A funeral mass will be held at St. Anselm's Catholic Church (1 Macnaughton Road in East York) at 10 am on November 28, with interment at Mount Hope Cemetery to follow, and a reception at Humphrey Funeral Home from noon-2pm. The family would like to sincerely thank friends and neighbours in Bracebridge and Thornhill for their support of Bob in recent years, along with the wonderful staff at Sunrise of Erin Mills Retirement Home for all the care and help they have provided over the past three years. In memory of Bob you are invited to make an online donation to the Alzheimer Society, at https://alzheimer.ca/en, or the increasingly needed Food Banks, at https://foodbankscanada.akaraisin.com/ui/tributedonations/donations/start. Condolences may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com.