Mike Robinson

It is with heavy hearts that we have to share the news that Mike Robinson has passed away.

Mike and Dawn should have been visiting family in the UK and having a wonderful holiday in August, but tragedy struck and Mike has been taken away from us. We are all still in shock and disbelief. 

Mike was born on the 14th March, 1952. He was the eldest of five children born to Des and Chris Robinson.

Their first home was in Hay on Wye were Des worked on a farm. Liz and Michael were both born there. They then moved on to Ashleigh near Tetbury were Peter and Ian were born. They finally moved to Cam in 1963 mainly due to concern for good schooling for the children. Mandy was born in Cam in 1965. They lived at 34 High St. Des went to work for Ken Hall’s farm at the bottom of Cam Peak.

Growing up in the sixties Mike loved motorbikes and the leathers that went with riding. On the Mod versus Rockers divide, he was firmly on the Rockers side, compared to his brothers who were on scooters and identified with the Mods. Being the eldest he didn’t want to be seen with the younger siblings and so this was part of the separate identities.

Born to a Catholic mother, he went to St Joseph’s School in Nympsfield and then to Dursley Modern School. Leaving school he became an Apprentice at Listers as a millwright. He loved getting his hands dirty and enjoyed anything mechanical. He loved a challenge. If the machine didn’t work he wouldn’t rest until he had fixed it. We remember him as always having bloodied fingers and bruises under the finger nails. He took great pride in his work and never let people down.

He had heard about the promise of a new life in Canada and had applied to emigrate there with a friend Peter Vizzard through the Abicus company. He was due to leave in March 1976. Three months before that he had met Dawn at a club in Oldbury. They hit it off immediately and he asked her to go out to Canada to see him. He wrote air mail letters every day until she visited him in May of that year. The Immigration Control would only let her stay two weeks but there was a ruling that if you married whilst in Canada you could stay indefinitely. So, Mike proposed and married Dawn in those two weeks and they have stayed in Canada, in Calgary, ever since.

They were happily marrried for 46 years. Dawn and Mike brought Kristian and Brad into the world. Both would go on to marry Zoe and Lauren and give Mike and Dawn three grandchildren, Sebastian, Willow and Kai.

We can't thank him enough for his love and care for us as a family and for being Grampy to the kids.

Mike had a very sweet tooth and loved having ice cream, cake and chocolate with the grandchildren. He had a routine with Sebastian that they would go off for dessert and Sebe would say ‘Do you want to try it Grampy’. Mike would always reply ‘Ooh, it’s a bit sweet!’

Mike initially worked for Modern Tool in Calgary but then went out on his own, setting up his own business, RMS, specialising in industrial machine tools and their repair. His region of business was extensive and wide. He was always in demand as he could fix anything.

He took on an apprentice, Dustin, after his teacher pestered Mike repeatedly to hire him. He was glad he did as Dustin has been with him for 14 years.

In his spare time Mike enjoyed skiing, especially on Fortress mountain. He was good enough for some of the black runs. He enjoyed great holidays to places such as Hawaii, Mexico, Vegas, Disneyland, Jamaica, Cuba (although he didn’t have the best of time in Cuba!). Some of those holidays were with the larger family, especially on the Schuswap Lake in Canada.

He took up golf to keep up with Dawn. His golf was military golf – left, right, left – never down the middle! Although he did manage a hole in one once, which of course he bragged about incessantly.

He was passionate about football and watched all the Premier League matches on Canadian TV following his team, Tottenham Hotspur. Conversations with Ian, in particular, were all about the football with hardly any family news.

Mike had the biggest heart. He would do anything for anybody and would give away his last dollar.

He wasn’t the most expressive of individuals but showed he cared in practical ways. He would find out what you liked and get it for you. He would turn up and do practical jobs. He was there for you and would drop everything in order to help.

He would swear like crazy when he was at work, but never at home. Some of his favourite phrases were ‘Absolute Madness’ ‘Insane’ ‘How Ya doin?’

He loved Dawn, beyond words. She was his whole world. And he was Dawn's world too. They have been blessed with a happy happy marriage.

We will miss him more than he will ever know.

You will all know him in different ways. But we give thanks for his life and his contribution to ours.

A thanksgiving service was held for Mike at the Dursley Tabernacle, England, on 12th August, 2022. He was cremated at the Westerleigh Crematorium, England, on 17th August, 2022. At this time there are no plans for a memorial service in Canada.

We have uploaded a video of the service under the mementos tab for anyone that wishes to view it.

Please feel free to share any stories, memories or photos you may have of Mike, we would love to see them!