Robert "Bob" Curtis

CURTIS, Robert Robert "Bob" Curtis was born on February 4, 1929 in Windy Nook, County Durham, England. During the Second World War his parents sent him as a child to live with a family in Welland, Ont. to avoid the bombing. In the Golden Horseshoe he learned to skate and play ice hockey, a game he would later pursue as an amateur into his late 60s. At the end of the war he returned to England, where he trained as a mechanical engineer. An avid hiker and cyclist, he met his beautiful wife Joan also a keen rambler at a holiday centre at Loch Leven in the Scottish Highlands. It was a romance that led to a marriage lasting 54 years. During his national service in the merchant navy he saw the world, working for Cunard and the New Zealand Shipping Company, among other shipping lines. He progressed through the ranks to become a chief engineer. He later switched to aircraft engine engineering, joining Rolls Royce in Derby at a time when computers started revolutionizing the industry. He jumped at an opportunity to return to Canada in 1966, when Pratt & Whitney offered him a job as a test engineer in Montreal. He later joined a group of highly specialized engineers who opened Pratt & Whitney's test facility near Toronto before taking early retirement at age 62. He took up skiing, was a strong swimmer and loved nature. He and Joan traveled extensively and put a family of three through university. They retired to Victoria in 1995, where they reveled in frequent rambles to their beloved Witty's Lagoon and other regional parks. Although he returned to England and visited Switzerland during retirement years, after all his travels Victoria was the place that most felt like home. Bob died on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at the Victoria Hospice after a courageous battle with cancer. His wife Joan and their children Malcolm, Susan and Alison, son in-law Neill, and granddaughter Cosima survive him, as well as nephew David Curtis and niece Ann Foakes, both in England. A private memorial is planned. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Victoria Hospice Society would be appreciated. 235968