St. Albert residents took time this week to reflect on the busy, bird-filled life of BLESS co-founder Robert Lane, who died May 5 at the University of Alberta Hospital.
He was 84.
A St. Albert resident from 1976 until recently, Bob was best known as the co-founder of the Big Lake Environment Support Society (BLESS) along with fellow naturalist Fin Fairfield.
Bob was very active with BLESS up until about a year ago. He was always coming up with new ways to raise awareness of Big Lake, said longtime BLESS member Miles Constable. Bob’s efforts were central to getting Big Lake designated as an Important Bird Area and listed under the province’s Special Places program.
“In a large way, we have Bob to thank for Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park,” Constable said.
Man of many hobbies
Born in Brandon, Man., Bob got his PhD in Oceanography from Oregon State University in 1965 – the same year his son, Chris, was born.
“He was a man of many hobbies,” Chris recalled. He was an avid hunter, nature photographer, and an award-winning stamp collector.
Bob spent his career working for the federal government, which included a stint as a meteorologist in Churchill, Man.
“My dad loved his stories,” Chris said, which included tales of giving weather reports to CBC reporter Peter Mansbridge and running from polar bears (although those bear stories may have been exaggerated).
Constable remembered working for Bob as part of Environment Canada’s environmental protection department, where the two of them conducted measurements at abandoned Distance Early Warning Line radar sites in the far North.
Bob used to smoke cigars, which got him in trouble when the federal government banned in-office smoking in the mid-1980s, Constable said. When he sniffed the smell of hastily-stubbed-out cigar in Bob’s office soon after the ban kicked in, Constable hung a “no smoking” sign on Bob’s door as a joke.
“It was around Christmas time (that year) when he gave me one of those fake medals for ‘Protecting Indoor Air Quality,’ ” Constable recalled with a chuckle.
“He would admit when he was wrong quite readily, but it was rare when he was.”
Bob had a front-row seat for the 1987 Edmonton tornado, which he filmed from the roof of his office in Edmonton while his co-workers fled, Chris said.
“He was very enthusiastic about documenting things,” he said, and would use any of his half-dozen cameras to shoot every hockey game, horse show, or concert his son and grandchildren attended.
Peggy Fairfield said Bob was the first person to sign up when her husband Fin came up with the idea for BLESS, and supported the group by doing research, recruiting members, and organizing events.
“You could ask Bob to do anything and it would be done with perfection,” she said, even if it meant helping Indigenous interpreters perform a traditional dance during St. Albert’s first Family Day event.
Chris said Bob got his love of nature from his father, who spent long hours outdoors as a railroad engineer, and felt obliged to help protect natural resources such as Big Lake.
“I think he really felt like his best person when he was out in nature.”
Post-retirement, Bob would head out almost every day to take pictures of hawks and eagles at Big Lake or Murray Marsh, or go camping in remote locations with his wife Gail and their Bassett hounds.
Chris said he would remember Bob as someone who was passionate about and proud of his wife, son, and grandchildren, the latter of whom would call him “Grampos.”
“I’ve always through of him as a great St. Albertan.”
Bob is survived by his sister Anne, his wife and son, and his grandchildren Ryan, Carlisle, and Jared. Chris said Bob asked his family not hold any service or ceremony for his death. Bob’s ashes will be scattered at a future date.
Donations in Bob’s honour can be made to BLESS or the Ellis Bird Farm.
