June 25, 1927 - May 24, 2020
Robert (Bob) Ironside Dunn passed away quietly on May 24, 2020, at Mountain Lake Seniors' Community, Nelson, BC, at the age of 92.
Bob was born June 27, 1927, in Victoria, BC, to Robert George Dunn and Jeannie Sim (Tyre). As a child, he attended Quadra Elementary School and Victoria High School. Pursuing a university education, he attended Victoria College for two years, followed by two years at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, completing a BA degree in 1949.
Before and after graduation, he was employed by the T. Eaton Co. in Victoria, beginning as a swamper on a delivery truck and rising to a supervisory position in the drapery department. It was here that he met his wife, Shirley Dye, who worked in the grocery department at Eaton's. They married in 1950 and lived on Glanford Avenue in the Royal Oak area of Victoria. At the time, it was a rural property with a long, often muddy driveway leading to the house.
In a couple of years, Bob and Shirley moved to a bungalow on Tattersall Drive in Saanich, where the driveway was much shorter but made of concrete. Bob returned to university in 1964, to a fledgling University of Victoria, to attain his teaching certificate. He put this to good use in accepting his first teaching assignment at Rosemont Elementary School in Nelson BC in September 1965. Thus, their next home was on Innes Street in Nelson, where they remained for ten years until moving to a larger home in Fairview, to accommodate his widowed mother.
During his twenty-five years as a teacher and principal, Bob worked at Rosemont Elementary, A.I. Collinson Elementary, Balfour Elementary, and Salmo Elementary schools. He retired as principal in 1990 from Hume Elementary School.
Bob is survived by his son Bob (Donna) of Coquitlam, BC, daughter Sherry Scherk (Norm - deceased) of 108 Mile Ranch, BC, granddaughter Laurel Dunn of Abbotsford, BC, favourite cousin Jean Vantreight, of Saanich, BC, and family friend Valerie Paynter of Nelson.
Bob was predeceased by his wife Shirley (2003) and son-in-law Norm Scherk (2013).
At Bob's request, there will be no service. His remains have been cremated and will be interred in a family plot in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria. Donations in his name may be made to the Nelson SPCA (phone 250-352-7178) or to the Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation (phone 250-354-2334).
We would especially like to thank the staff and nurses at Kootenay Lake Hospital (3rd floor) and Mountain Lake Seniors' Community for the professional and conscientious care Bob received over the past six months or so.
If Bob had one lifelong hobby, it would have to be photography. He learned how to develop his own film while still in high school and eventually made the transition to digital photography. This meant that he had to learn how to use email to send his photography to friends and family.
He avidly watched tennis, baseball, football, and curling on television - and usually at about 88 decibels. He also enjoyed the company of animals and adopted two very lucky stray cats (Phil and Fatso) over the past fifteen years or so. Even today, neighbourhood cats know that there is usually a treat of some kind waiting for them at his back door.
Bob and Shirley also fed many birds in their yard, most notably the Steller's Jays. Some of these peanut-swilling bandits were such regular visitors that they were honoured with their own unique and descriptive names; "Choosy" and the one-legged "Jake" come to mind.
Sarah Stevens of Thompson Funeral Service has been entrusted with arrangements. To leave a message of condolence for the family, please visit https://www.thompsonfs.ca/obituary/robert-dunn/