I feel very fortunate to have known Bob quite well through our mutual involvement with the Kelowna & District Genealogical Society.  He was an avid volunteer with our group, and he took an active part in our many projects, events and meetings. 
Bob's documentation of local history and heritage is legendary but there is a whole other aspect to his writing that has not been enjoyed by such a wide audience. I’m sure these writings have been shared with his family and I feel very privileged to also be included in the circle of people in our society who have had the opportunity to read this work. 
I have been the editor of the quarterly KDGS newsletter, The Okanagan Researcher since 2013.  Almost every issue going back to the society’s beginnings in 1984, has included at least one of Bob's articles. While he did contribute pieces about area history, most of the articles are about his own ancestors or his own personal treasures.  He wrote meticulously and with enthusiasm about the Whelans and Clements, the Coasts, the Clarkes, the Maybees and of course the Hayes family.  He told us about his shaving mug, “Old Michael”, his cribbage board and the Whelan family paintings he cherished.  He shared the details of his trips and his family mysteries, his research victories and his genealogical brick walls.
In the final article Bob contributed to The Okanagan Researcher (Volume 41, Number 1, October 2024), he reflected on progress toward his research goal of documenting and having photos of his sixteen great great grandparents. He noted that he was largely successful, but there was still “much room for additional research” as he moved on to researching his great great great grandparents.
 I have no doubt that Bob is now very happy to have met these  ancestors, and he is  getting to know them personally over a cup of tea from a bone china cup.  
I'll miss you, Bob. 
Mary Read

My deepest sympathies to all of Bob's loved ones. 

He was my favorite teacher at Westbank Elementary. My fondest memories of him always included snoopy from Charlie brown and the endless supply of Hawkins Cheezies that he kept in his top drawer of his desk. He was such a highlight in my school years. Thank you Mr. Hayes, I will miss you. I'm so grateful for the memories I have of you and that after all those years, I was able to introduce you to my own two young children. 

Ashley Boehmer

Dear Bettyanne, Don, Jillian, and Coleen: 
It is with much sadness at the loss of your brother and uncle that I send my condolences and sympathy.
Not only did he research and preserve his heritage, but Bob assisted the Clement descendants who annually cleaned and weeded the burial sites in the Kelowna Pioneer Cemetery. Occasionally Bob also would take a walk through the cemetery and check on his pioneer descendants burial sites.
I remember Bob as a well prepared teacher when I substitute taught for him. He also always introduced me as his "cousin" (actually my husband Bob was his cousin.)
linda Anderson

Easily my favorite teacher growing up. grade 6 Westbank elementary. From his thunderbird to the jar of jelly beans. Sad to hear of his passing. 
Nigel Paynter

Bob was a dear friend to me and to my family for the last 40 years or so. He was a kind, generous, loyal, and frankly hilarious person. 

Before he was our friend, he was my teacher. I was lucky enough to have him twice, grades 5 & 6. Even as a 10 year old kid I recognized how special Bob was, and how much more he did for his students than was typical. 

In the years after leaving his class, I often spent summer afternoons at his house, playing cards, drinking tea, and eating Bugles. My favourite game was a card game called Coup D’État. Apparently Bob played this game when he was a kid, but I guess it never really caught on because nobody else I’ve ever met has even heard of it. When I graduated from Westbank Elementary and moved on to high school, Bob gave me a gift, and a letter. The letter, typewritten of course (Bob’s handwriting was atrocious) and many pages long, was full of wise and humorous words, as well as a bit of a confession: Bob had wanted to give me my own copy of our favourite game. He had tried and tried to find one, he said - he’d even written the company that produced it, but it had long since been discontinued. He then considered giving me his own battered copy, but understandably felt too attached to it. So that was that. Until I opened the gift to find that he had made me my own copy of the game - by hand - complete with cards and score sheets and markers and pieces. He knew how much I loved that obscure game, and when he couldn’t find one for me, he made one instead.

That’s who Bob was. That’s the sort of thing he did all the time, for me and countless others I’m sure. I could fill pages with stories like this, from the years I knew him. 

Bob gave himself to his community without reservation. He cared for us as his own. And we’re all richer for it. 

Thank you, Bob. You’ll not be forgotten.

The photo is the Glenmore Elementary Grade 4 class of 1963-64. The teacher was Mrs. Gill. Bob (we called him “Bobby” back then) is indicated by the red arrow. He is standing between Jimmy Reid (L) and Larry Miller (R) and in front of Ivor Marshall.

My son was always a chatterbox, when Bob came to England to visit he  offered him £5 to be quiet for ten minutes, he really struggled but we got to talk for ten minutes undisturbed, my son was 5-6 he's  now 50  but still remembers this incident with fondness, 

Bob visited his family in England a few times (once with his mum and dad) and we came over to Canada (myself twice) and was greatly entertained by my wonderful cousin, he showed me the freshwater salmon that swim beneath a small bridge in Kelowna (I forget now what he called them) as well as meeting family, on one visit we also went over to Vancouver Island and met his brother and family, amazing memories.........

Part 3 of 3
Bob left from the liquor store and we said our goodbyes and I thought many years would likely pass before our paths crossed again or possibly never again but an hour later I see his smiling face walking up to me through the parking lot with something in his hand. He said “Matt, I have something I would like for you to have”, and he handed me his copy of the year-end school photo, framed with two illustrations of Snoopy from Charley Brown, just the way I remembered it. Yeah, that was Bob and everyone that knew him, just knows. 
Attached was a copy of an about me that kids do in class. My name is:, I’m in grade:, I was born on:. There is a photo of me added to the end and the funniest part were my hobbies. Cooking, (scratched out but still legible, Girls, a little bit only two) and water skiing and cooking again. Funny thing is I know exactly who the one girl was and she’s not my wife today so don’t get too excited. Hahaha 

With that I’m going to wrap up this small novel. I truly believe we live on when we pass and it's through memories held onto by the living. Bob you are still here and living big amongst the many people you touched. Have a super summer, Bob.

Part 2 of 3.
I wasn’t the first or the last to get my pen but I was just as invested in my own receiving of the pen as I was my classmates because it was a right of passage that we all experienced together and that was just one example of how passionate and impactful Bob was as a teacher. 

Bob introduced us all to photography. He took us all into the woods behind the school and took our portraits with his black and white film camera. He taught us how the camera works (as much as you can to 9 year olds) and the developing process. Today, I am a professional photographer and I have always credited Bob for sparking that artistic flame inside of me. I would always talk about Bob to friends over the years about what a great teacher he was. When I met my now wife of 10 years, I told her about him as well. One day we were ringing the bells for the Salvation Army at the Liquor store and this grey haired man walked out and put $10 into the kettle. He didn’t quite get it into the slot so he stumbled a bit and stopped to make sure it went in and looked up at me as if to say “oops” with a smile and when he did, we both had the exact same reaction on our face. He said my name immediately and I said “Mr. Hayes” with excitement, to which he immediately corrected me saying “please, call me Bob”. I introduced him to my wife and I shared a couple of stories and one was about photography and also how at the end of the year, he didn’t just give us a class photo but made a framed copy with construction paper and hand coloured them with snoopy on the front saying “HAVE A SUPER SUMMER”. I told him I had lost mine over the years but remembered it well. He then shared with me (sorry other classes) that our class was by far his most memorable and favourite year. Bob wasn’t one to blow smoke and he recited every kids full name from that class to me on the spot, something I couldn’t have done.

Max 2000 characters should not exist when sharing thoughts and memories of someone gone. Made it into a jpeg here and will also paste into my three photo posts which allows 6,000 characters total. 

Part 1 of 3

Bob (aka Mr. Hayes) was my 27 year old, grade 4 teacher at Westbank Elementary back in 1981. I cannot fathom that he was that young, just a kid himself. 

I always respected him as he was so invested in his students success. He was a teacher that put 100% into our classroom. As a kid, you’re just trying to get through school and all the changes that are happening to us as kids. You are totally oblivious to anything other than your own world and thoughts. Bob seemed to be in touch with this aspect of kids and although he may not have immediately seen the direct impact he had on his students, they were real and hugely impactful. They were for me personally anyways and I was not what you would consider a brainiac or a slouch, but rather somewhere in the lower middle.

I want to share a couple of stories about Mr. Hayes. Grade 4 was the time students went from doing assignments in pencil to pen. Most teachers just handed out pens to students on the first day but Mr. Hayes had a different plan. Each day in first month or two of Grade 4 we would come into class in the morning in our portable outside. My eyes were immediately drawn the chalkboard tray behind his desk as there would sometimes be a brand new blue Bic pen sitting there, or sometimes two Bic pens and sometimes none at all. To me, those pens were made of gold, not blue plastic. You see, with Mr. Hayes, you had to earn your right to write in pen. He was always marking tests and paying attention to our hand writing. When he felt the time was right, a ceremony would take place each morning before class began by presenting the next graduate into world of ink. The suspense and excitement this created was palpable.

I am so sorry to hear about Bob's passing. He was such a terrific person who shared so much knowledge and wisdom. It is a great loss for the Kelowna historical and genealogical communities, and his articles in the local paper were so informative.  One of our bright lights gone too soon.      Jim Burns

Being a past student of Mr. Hayes (Bob) from his Westbank Elementary days, I am so saddened to hear of his passing. He was a wonderful teacher. The waves of his kindness, support, and verve will continue to reverberate through everyone he ever came into contact with. He showed me kindness and a level of care not often felt. And I count myself blessed to have had his presence in my life.  I'll have a bag on cheesies in his honour.
Thank you for everything Mr. Hayes (Bob), and I send my deepest condolences to his loved ones.

I met Bob through the Kelowna & District Genealogical Society in late 1993. Over the years, Bob and I worked together on many different heritage and family history projects as well as on the KDGS board of directors. Bob was a very special person: a true gentleman, kind, caring and passionate about history and genealogy. His work to record and preserve the history of our area and the people who shaped it, was amazing. Bob’s deep knowledge of our history was amazing and much of this knowledge is now gone with his passing. Bob lived a life of service and volunteerism on many fronts. His passing is a great loss to our community and, for me personally, I feel I’ve lost a good friend and collaborator. Rest in peace, Bob - yours was a life well-lived and an example to us all! You will be greatly missed!

I’m very sorry for the passing of such a fine and kind gentleman. 
I met Bob while working at Kelowna Museums, where he was more than a collaborator and volunteer. Bob was a friend of the museum and a generous professional who always shared his expertise and his passion for history. 
My heart goes out to his family and friends during this difficult time.

OBITUARY

Robert Michael Hayes

November 22, 1954 – November 20, 2024

Valleyview Funeral Home

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