Robert "Bobby" Douglas Annis

Bobby was like a bright star to those who’s lives he touched, a loving husband and friend to many across Canada. Born in Toronto, during his childhood he was deeply involved with the Boys Club, enjoying after school days and weekends with them. During his young adulthood, he joined the Canadian Forces in the Military Police division. He was a lover of dancing and music, often going to clubs and concerts, where he was said to be the “bringer of the party!” Always the first one on the dance floor, he soon had the entire place laughing and dancing the night away.

Bobby loved to travel and had a great fondness for Banff and travelling by rail. It was common for him to run off in his split-window VW Van on another road trip adventure! Eventually he discovered his love of beads, jewelry making and ceramics. In his 20s, he turned a hobby into a career and opened a bead shop, “The Seller of Stars” and let his inner flower child come out. He was quoted as saying, “Long Island was sold for about 15 strands of beads… For the amount of beads I’ve sold, I could probably have bought most of the American seaboard.” He would sometimes display his beads from around the globe in galleries and was known to donate half of the proceeds to Senior’s homes.

In 2005, he met the love of his life Jill. He said that he knew she was “the one” the moment they first spoke because she referred to herself as a dork, which he connected with. He taught Jill the fine art of pottery and they made their beloved pottery masks, which they jokingly referred to as their “babies”. As they celebrated their wedding, they opened a box of 20 sparklers and lit four of them. Jill turned to him and held up the box of 16 remaining sparklers and they agreed to light one each year they were married. 16 years later, they ran out of sparklers on their final wedding anniversary. He was and always will be her knight in shining armor.

“I love you”

“I love you too”

“I love you 3”

“I love you 4”

“For what?”

“Forevermore!”