Obituary of Mr. Robert Corrigan

On Friday, January 22, 2021, Robert William Corrigan (Bob), husband and father, passed away after a brief illness at the age of 85.  He is predeceased by his parents, Alfred and Wealthy, his brother Harold, and sister Audrey.  He leaves behind Nadine, his wife of 59 years, his four children, Robert (Jane), Lyle (Karen), Karen (Anthony), Anne, and 9 grandchildren.

Christened Robert William at his birth in 1935, but going by the name Bobby, he grew up in Toronto, where he attended school and achieved passable grades in everything - except phys ed…more on that later.  His young life was spent trolling the streets of the poorer sections of Toronto with his friends (it’s okay - everyone was poor then) and getting into more mischief than he was willing to share.  It was during his grade 8 year that his teacher suggested that Bobby (now called Bob) pursue a career in art, and this decision led to a career that combined Bob’s lifelong passion and creative outlet into one heck of a money-maker.  Bob began his career with the firm Rolph-Clark-Stone, and then made the decision to open his own business in 1961.  From there, he had several business successes (and a couple of failures, but let’s not be picky), that provided a comfortable life for himself and his family.

Bob had many passions throughout his life. Among them were sport, particularly badminton, where he was Ontario Champion in 1967 and silver medalist at the Canada Games that same year, and golf (see, that phys ed thing came back).  He loved to argue about politics at any and all times, enjoyed cooking (a wonderfully dynamic chef who subscribed wholeheartedly to the french school of cooking - butter, butter and more butter), jokes (Bob was always quick to laugh, both at himself and the silliness of everyday life), and his family.

Bob met his future wife Nadine at a party in 1954, where she was on a date with someone else.  Fortunately for him and their future children, Nadine found Bob irresistible, and their courtship led to a wedding in October 1961.  Throughout the 1960’s, while the rest of the world was focussed on sending men to the moon, Bob and Nadine were busy creating a family.  They were blessed with 4 children who provided them with many opportunities to discover the wonderful world of parenting.

Bob requested that no funeral be held in his honour, but rather a party where friends and family could once again congregate to celebrate and share their stories of Bob with one another.  In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Canadian Lung Association would be gratefully acknowledged.

One of Bob’s favourite things to do was to get up in the morning, make a cup of tea, and scowl at the newspapers for a while.  He would peruse the local and world news, the opinion section, glance at the sports, spend far too much time with the comics, and eventually wind his way towards the obituary section.  He always said that he knew it was going to be a good day if he didn’t find himself in there.  Well, Bob, unfortunately you won’t be able to read about yourself today, but your family and friends will, and they miss you.