Robert Donald Rowe

Robert (Bob) Donald Rowe passed way peacefully on December 1, 2023 at the age of 71. Bob was born in Victoria and grew up in the Gordon Head area. It was a rural area in those days and he enjoyed playing on the beaches and in the fields when he was young. He attended Gordon Head Elementary School, Gordon Head Junior Secondary School and Mount Douglas High School. He was always interested in science and won the Island Science Fair prize in high school and then attended the Canada Science Fair.

He attended the University of Victoria and graduated with a degree in Biology. In his first year of university he also began building a 37’ sailboat with his girlfriend and future wife, Shelley. After finishing their boat they sailed offshore down the west coast and through the Panama Canal, through the Caribbean and across the Atlantic, with stops at Bermuda and the Azores before arriving in England in 1983. Eventually they returned home to Victoria for the birth of their daughter and later, their son. Bob was a very dedicated father, and spent many hours at his children’s school events and soccer and field hockey games. He built small boats for his children which they loved to sail at Cowichan Lake. He also took them hiking and skiing and taught them to enjoy the outdoors. In his working life, he started his own research and development company where he worked on diverse projects from flow meters to underwater communications systems. He suffered a severe stroke in 2007 but always remained positive and was a well known figure on his mobility scooter at the coffee shops around Oak Bay. Prior to Covid he was a volunteer at the Air Museum and a keen artist at the Pandora Arts Collective. He also had a weekly breakfast date with his friends in “the boys breakfast club”. This year Bob was delighted to welcome two new granddaughters to his family. He is survived by his wife, Shelley, daughter, Arwen (David) and (granddaughter) Ambrosia, and son, Colin (Sofia) and (granddaughter) Isla. ILYT