Robbie Robson turned 100 years old in 2014 and the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre Society hosted a tea to celebrate the man who has seen and accomplished so much.
In recognition, the society named the Centre’s auditorium after Robson during a small ceremony held during the tea on Dec. 20.
“That the auditorium we are now in should be named for you seems a fitting if small reward for all that you’ve contributed,” said society president Barbara Lightfoot. “Your achievements in life have been many, and getting to be 100 years old is yet another one. I know that you’re still volunteering in Christenson Village. I suspect that you don’t know how to stop.”
Many others from the community stood to congratulate Robson, including Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons and Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne.
“I understand Mr. Robson, Robbie, you’re continuing your volunteer work in Gibsons,” Simons said. “That is much appreciated. You are setting an example for not just your fellow citizens, but for the young folks who are coming along. Thank you for all you’ve done, not just for today but for tomorrow. The work you’ve done will have a lasting legacy.”
“On behalf of the District of Sechelt and the entire community, congratulations on reaching 100 years of age. That’s absolutely remarkable,” Milne said.
Through all of the praise, congratulations and fond memories shared by Robson’s friends and family, the man himself sat contemplatively with one hand on his forehead and his gaze lowered, perhaps remembering the decades that have fallen away behind him.
In an interview after the celebration, Robson said that his life so far has been a good one — a surprisingly positive response to a life that began in hardship.
Born in Winchester, England in 1914, Robson was the eldest child in his family. His father died in the First World War and Robson, nine years old, was sent out to find work in a coal mine.
When his mother took ill, he and his sister were put up for adoption. Eventually they were sent to a boarding school where Robson completed high school at 14.
Somewhere along the way Robson discovered a passion for singing. Over the next year he sang at events, making £5 per performance. He saved what he could and made it to Canada in 1929, just before his 15th birthday.
From there he found work on a farm in Quebec and paid his way through an accounting degree in college. Before the Second World War, Robson was working as an accountant for General Motors in Toronto. He left it to serve his country.
“He was in Normandy and he was in D-Day and he watched all of his friends get blown to bits,” said Robson’s daughter Karen. “He was in the front lines because he was a stenographer. He was out there with a typewriter trying to relay the news.”
When he returned from the war, Robson met his wife Mary. In 1953 they had Karen, and in 1987 he followed her out to the Sunshine Coast when she was pregnant with her second child.
Robson rediscovered his passion for singing and performed in local productions of The King and I and The Sound of Music.
In the early ‘90s his background in accounting made him instrumental in the financing, planning and construction of the new, and current, Seniors Centre building.
“This has been a very moving experience,” Robson said.
“I really appreciate your generosity in inviting us over here, myself and my friends, for this gathering. It’s like I just come back for a visit at home, there’s so many friends that I have here. I appreciate so much everything that was said. I’m really at a loss for words. Thank you very, very much.”
— With files from Jan DeGrass
