Robert Brown Baillie

Robert Brown Baillie, 79, affectionately known as Bob by his loved ones, passed away peacefully on June 20, 2024, at home in North Vancouver surrounded by his family. Bob put up a courageous fight during his short battle with lung cancer.

Born on October 21, 1944, in Rothesay, Scotland, Bob was the beloved oldest son of Jean and Robert Baillie. On July 1st, 1951, he and his younger brother, Andrew, emigrated with their parents to Canada. They were excited and proud to begin their new life as Canadians.

Bob attended North Shore College while his parents operated the North Vancouver Private Hospital. In addition to working at the hospital, Bob's dad commuted daily to work for Crown Zellerback in Richmond. Together Bob Sr. and Jean Baillie worked hard to provide an amazing family life in Canada. It became especially wonderful when Kathryn was born 12 years after Bob and now their tight knit family was complete.

As a boy, Bob enjoyed playing rugby and football as well as hanging out with his entourage of buddies. He learned easily but was not always studious. Bob was excellent with numbers, loved to read, had a caring, shy, playful nature and always respected others. He could be mischievous, quietly did his own thing, didn’t worry about dress codes and liked to “tipple” in his early years. He loved to tease, but never in a mean way, and naturally people were drawn to him.

Having met when they were 15 and 17 years old at Memorial Gym in North Vancouver, Bob married his best friend, Flo, on May 20, 1966, and they shared 58 wonderful years of marriage together. They had their struggles, worked through their issues and came out the other side as best friends with love as their ever-present foundation.

Bob graduated from North Vancouver High in 1964 and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia in 1968. Bob had a long career with Air Canada, working in various roles, but his favorite was Reservations, where he met many lifelong friends. He loved traveling with his colleagues on FAM trips. Although he retired over 25 years ago, he maintained great friendships made while working at Air Canada.

In addition to working for Air Canada, Bob, Andrew, Kathryn and their parents owned and operated Lonsdale rentals. Bob would often be seen helping out washing dishes over the holidays and sometimes leaving IOU notes in the till.

Bob was passionate about traveling to faraway places, he took his family around the world to many exotic destinations every year. Bob was always eager to travel, even with cranky little kids in tow. He passed his travel obsession and sense of adventure onto both of his girls. His biggest passion outside of travel was golfing with his friends. His yearly trips included golfing in Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland, the USA and Eastern Canada. Mr. Dear and Mr. Black would say his enthusiasm for golf was superior to his skill.

He had a quiet sense of humour and always whistled while he walked, jingling change in his pocket. Bob’s heart was always with his family and he was a wonderful dad to his children Jennifer (Ken) and Alison (Dan). His family increased with the arrival of each grandchild: Isla, Kai, Henry and Josie who became the joy of his life. He is survived by his brother, Andrew (Marie-Louise), and his little sister, Kathryn (Tim). Bob was an uncle to many and a friend to all, he deeply loved his nieces and nephews, Tracy, Scott, April, Brenda, David, Bobby, Rob, Shannon, Christine, Mike, Jeff and Bryan.

A Celebration of Life will be held on July 16th from 1- 4pm at the Seymour Golf and Country Club in North Vancouver. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Lions Gate Hospital Oncology or Palliative Care wards who took such good care of him during his illness.

Bob will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him.

Bob would say, “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” -Winnie the Pooh