McKenzie, Robert “Bob” James
June 6, 1944 – August 22, 2010
Bob, who saw the goodness in everyone he met and found something positive in all of his life’s experiences, died August 22, 2010.
Bob was an artist, poet, philosopher and a true gentleman who shared his friendship with many.
Bob is survived by his sisters, June Aichele and her family, of Calgary, and Marilyn McKenzie, and her family, of Victoria and Toronto.
Bob’s family wish to thank the staff and residents of Burdett House for their friendship and support of Bob. Although Bob’s stay at Styles House was brief, we are grateful to staff and residents for their care and kindness.
In Bob’s memory, donations will be gratefully accepted for the Mustard Seed Street Church, where he spent many hours volunteering and making friends.
A celebration of Bob’s life will be held Saturday, August 28 at 11 a.m. at MCCALL BROS. FLORAL CHAPEL, Johnson & Vancouver Streets. Reception to follow in McCall’s Family Centre. Condolences may be offered to the family at www.mccallbros.com.
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Angela Davis
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Lindsay Beckett Bob has been a valued member of our Writing Circle for the past year. His wonderful poems, which he read in his deep rich baritone were always full of kindess and love. He will be greatly missed by us all.
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Ann Barry Bob was a regular at the Saturday morning Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral. Most often he would lead us in the Psalm. He will be missed but will be in our prayers.
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Fran Kitson Dear family of Bob
Bob was such a dear friend to me. I am employed at Mustard Seed and Bob’s greatest joy was spending time with us at our camp. He just loved spending time at camp he loved carving the pumpkins, he loved the skits that made him laugh, he loved the worship. As coordinator of the camp this years camp will be difficult for me as I will miss him so so much. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of Bob’s life. I will not be able to attend the memorial service as I have to work at our farm up island on Sat. Much love and blessings during this difficult time. Fran Kitson
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Madeline Bakker I have been delivering books on Monday mornings to downtown organizations with Literacy Victoria for over a year now, and every week I would look for Bob, who would come up to our van and stand around and chat. He let me borrow his book of poems to read, and so I used to call him “our poet” – his sweet smile would always cheer me. After a holiday, I’d ask him what he had done, if anything, and he’d always say “oh, my sister had me over for dinner – her kids are so nice, and they treat me SO well – I love going there.” He said he would talk often on the phone to his sister, and how much it meant to him. So I though you would like to know that he would talk about your loving attention to him, and how he felt about it…. he also said that the kids were so respectful on the phone when he would talk with them, and that that had been so meaningful to him. During the last couple of months I kept looking for him at Mustard Seed, and asked if anyone had seen him, but no one seemed to know. I hope he wasn’t sick too long, and that he had a peaceful death. I will miss him.
Sincerely,
Madeline Bakker
Bob’s Family,
I only recently met Bob when he came to live at Styles St. Residence and reside in the same room as my brother Richard. I talked to him soon after he moved in and was so pleased that Richard would have such a pleasant man to share his room and hoped that I would get to know his family.
I saw Bob last Wednesday and he said “Richard is such a great fellow”. I was so touched because Richard rarely gets that type of response.
God bless, and my condolences to your family on the loss of a truly kind gentleman.
Sincerely,
Angela Davis