Gow, Robert H.; Robert “Bob”, born in Fergus on April 8, 1925, died peacefully at the Wellington Terrace on Sunday, December 15, in his 89th year. He was predeceased by brothers James “Jim” (January, 2013) and George (July, 1996) and is survived by his loving sisters Marion and her husband Dr. Donal McKeown of Fergus, Alice and her husband Dr. David Strangway of Kelowna, and Ruth and her husband Dr. Angelo Borras of Waterloo, also sisters-in-law Zillah of Fergus and Winona of Palmerston. He was a very special uncle to Robin and Athol Gow; Nora-Anne Howes and Kathy Gow; Laurie Archibald and David, Daniel and Kimberly McKeown; Richard, Susan and Patricia Strangway; and Charles and Robert Borras. He was great-uncle to thirteen nieces and nephews and great-great uncle to Bronwyn. Bob trained with the Canadian Army at the A27 Canadian Reconnaissance Training Centre, Camp Dundurn, Saskatchewan during the Second World War. Bob was blessed with a beautiful baritone voice and was a member of the Melville United Church Choir in the 1950s. For some years, he worked for his father in the water- well drilling business until 1960. During that period he also custom-designed and built several houses, and once having had the experience of designing “outside the box”, he tackled his last building project, which was the Round Room, Fergus. Bob was often identified by this beautiful facility, which was the favourite venue for weddings, New Year’s Eve parties, and teachers’ and business meetings for several years. Not only was he the architect and builder of the Round Room, he was its chef and manager. In the late 1970s Bob Gow’s Round Room became known as “Round Room Appliances” when Bob became a distributor for Hitachi products. Bob’s final enterprise, in the mid-1980s, was to found a heat pump company, Canadian Geo-Solar, Inc., which marketed his brand of ground-source heating and cooling systems. After five successful years, he sold the company and took on retirement so as to care for his aging mother, Nora. Bob’s family would like to express its appreciation to the Wellington Terrace Staff and Doctors for their outstanding care of Bob. As per Bob’s wishes, there will be no funeral. A memorial will be announced. Friends desiring to make donations in Bob’s memory, may direct their gifts to the Wellington Terrace, 474 Wellington Rd. 18, Fergus, ON N1M 0A1 or to the Parkinson’s Foundation (www.parkinson.ca).
