March 23, 1922 ~ March 31, 2020 (age 98)
Angus Robertson passed away March 31, 2020, just 8 days after he celebrated his 98th birthday at home looking west over Penetanguishene Bay.
A longtime resident of Port Credit and Toronto, he moved north 12 years ago to spend his final years close to Georgian Bay and to his sailboat, a Nonsuch, Sunrise II.
Born March 23, 1922, at home at "Bessievale" in Barrhead, Scotland, Angus grew up on Carrick Crescent in Giffnock, Glasgow with his businesswoman mother, Elizabeth Allan, father, Captain Duncan Robertson of Canada Pacific's Allan Lines, and sisters Dr. Cathie Robertson (Gerron Stewart), Mary (Rev. Wilfrid Towart), Elizabeth "Betty" (Gordon Anderson) and Alexandra "Anda" (Bert Warner). All predeceased him except his brother-in-law, Gord, still at home in Aberdeen, aged 99. An active scout throughout childhood, Angus became a scout leader after the start of WW2.
At 15, he apprenticed as a mechanical engineer with Distillers Company Limited (DCL). In 1943, he joined the Royal Engineers. After the Normandy landing, they built bridges in France and the Netherlands. During the reconstruction, he helped with the reopening of the ports of Venice and Trieste and the rebuilding of bridges through northern Italy and into Austria.
In 1952, DCL sent Angus to manage the construction of a gin distillery in South Africa. On the voyage back to the UK he met a Canadian nurse, Mary McKillop, in the port of Mombasa, Kenya. They were engaged a few weeks later in Glasgow and he left to start a new life in Canada.
Angus and Mary married October 12, 1953, in St Thomas and Angus worked with MM Dillon of London on bridges for the 401. Then the building of the Humber treatment plant led him to move the family to Port Credit. New techniques for reinforced concrete construction Angus learned in Europe were unknown in North America. He proposed that the building code be modified so that these techniques could be used to reduce costs in the building of the May Robinson Apartments in Toronto. In 1959, a Toronto Star editorial announced “it was the first low-rent highrise in the city for the aged..."
Later, Angus worked as project manager for Jackson Ypes and Associates. In 1967, he joined the engineering department of Kodak Canada. For many years Angus was a CSA (Canadian Standards Association) group member, helping create codes and standards to "make homes, workplaces, and infrastructure safer and more sustainable."
While in Port Credit, he became an active member and elder of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. He was named to the town's Beautification Committee and became active in Save our Trees and Streams to preserve rare ecosystems in Mississauga.
Each summer Angus took to the road with his family to explore the highways of eastern Canada or to camp in Ontario's provincial parks. A proud Scot, in 1962 he took Mary and the children to his homeland to meet their grandfather, aunts, uncles and cousins. An equally patriotic Canadian, he took the children to Expo 67 and in 1975 he drove a full car across the Canadian Shield, the Prairies and the Rockies to Kamloops to see his sister Anda and her family.
Widowed in 1974, Angus took up sailing out of Port Credit the following year. He was passionate about his Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons courses and soon was teaching navigation to other new sailors. He sailed throughout eastern North America and the Caribbean. When he turned 65, he sailed the Atlantic to Europe.
After marrying another nurse, Elsie Bowman in 1981, Angus moved to Etobicoke. With retirement, they both became active in Learning Unlimited where he volunteered for audiovisual support.
In 1982, Angus moved his boat to Dutchman's Cove Marina in Penetanguishene where it was moored until sold in 2017, when he was 95. After moving north in 2008, he took up painting again and for several years he opened his home as the Isle of Skye Gallery for the October art tour.
In 2010, Angus went on his first cruise. Over the years he went to Antarctica (twice), took a cruise from Athens through the Adriatic to familiar territory in Venice, and embarked on a world tour and a cruise around South America. In 2012, he flew to Australia, celebrating his 90th birthday as they crossed the international date line. His life and travels inspired him to take up a pen and join the Askennonia Writers Group, where he remained active until his death. A lover of song all his life, he sang in a group with his friend Steve Cruise, who also introduced him to kayaking.
After ill health sapped his strength last fall, Angus spent 3 months in the Georgian Manor's convalescence program. He was able to spend a week at home before septic pneumonia took him to hospital.
Dad (Papa Robertson/Grampie) lived a wonderful, full, exciting life. He was a witty man and an inspiration to his family, friends and all who crossed his path.
Widowed twice, by Mary McKillop (1974) and Elsie Bowman (2020), Angus leaves his children Duncan, Nancy Gilberg (Harold), Catherine Gillard (Don), Mary “Sandy” Poirier (the late Roland) and Anne Robertson (Don Peers), and his 11 grandchildren Fiona (Chris), Émilie (Jean-Charles "Charlie"), Mary (Andrew), Laura (Amir), Sarah (Ben E.), Aron (Susan), Melissa (Adam), Brent (Danika), Justin (Helen), Jacqueline “Jacquie“ (Justin B), and Jocelyne (Ben L). He left 13 great-grandchildren, Duncan's grandchildren, Brandon and Daniel C. and Henry P.; Nancy's grandchildren, Hunter and Madeline V., Maliah and Brooklyn M. and Evelyn E.; Catherine's grandchildren Jack G., Liam, Emma and Owen C.; and Sandy's grandchild, Scarlett P.
Angus asked that his ashes be sprinkled on his beloved Georgian Bay. Celebrations of Angus's life will be arranged at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations to Doctors Without Borders | Médecins sans frontières or another charity of your choice would be greatly appreciated.
