Robbert Paul Welter

Born in Tarutung, Sumatra, the largest island of the 350 year colony of the Netherlands. Early on things went on as usual until in 1941 when Japan invaded the Colony and our family of 4 (mother and 3 sons) ended up in a civilian concentration camp. My dad, a captain in the reservist army went to a prisoner of war camp. In 1943 I was separated from my family and transferred to an all male camp and that was the situation until the end of war in 1945. I went to the Netherlands to finish high school and obtain a degree in building technology. By this time I had been engaged to the love of my life janny (NEE Lammens) and we decided to get married and immigrate to Canada where I had a job waiting with an Architectural office in Winnipeg. During our stay in Winnipeg both our children were born, Kitty-Jane and Robert Charles. In 1963 I was offered a job in Thunder Bay Ontario to assist in the structural design of a new Cathedral. By this time I was interested in becoming a Registered Professional Engineer. This meant writing three years of exams to accomplish this objective and in 1970 became a Registered Professional Engineer of the Province of Ontario, eventually a Designated Structural Engineer. In 1972 I joined a partnership with two Architects and we ran a successful consulting business for 35 years. During this time I was appointed Honorary Vice Consul for North Western Ontario by order of Quen Juliana of The Netherlands a position I held for 35 years. On retirement I was awarded a Knight in the Order of Orange Nasau by then Quen Beatrix. In 1983 I was asked to join the Board Governors of Lake Head University a position I held for 15 years, 14 years on the executive committee and two years as chairman of the board. On retirement I was made a “Fellow of The University”. I was 35 years a Member of Rotary clubs, Fort Wiliam and Victoria. As far as leisure is concerned, weekends had to do. I built a cottage at West hawk lake Manitoba and in the early 70th summer home on Lake Superior. We liked sailing and being on the water or in the water and was a great place for family gatherings.