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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 6, 20 20 | 16 The site of the new Holy Family Cemetery © G oo gl e M ap s ANewCemetery forHaltonRegion Holy Family Cemetery is open to assist members of the Catholic community in Halton. Conveniently located at Lower Base Line and Bronte Road, the cemetery offers options for in-ground burial and above-ground niches for cremated remains. T h e R om a n C a t h o l i c E p i s c o p a l C o r p o r a t i o n o f t h e D i o c e s e o f H am i l t o n i n O n t a r i o www.thecatholiccemeteries.ca For more information, please call 1-800-661-5985. Friends, family and col- leagues are mourning the death of longtime Oakville councillor and pillar of the community Ralph Robin- son. Robinson, who served on Oakville council for 11 consecutive terms before his retirement in 2018, died at Oakville Trafalgar Me- morial Hospital on Thurs- day, July 16. He was 88. The next day, many of his former council col- leagues took to social me- dia to talk about the former Ward 1 councillor and what he meant to the communi- ty. "Ralph was a dear friend of mine before he became a colleague on council, and I will miss him terribly," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. "He had a joy of life that will always be inspiration- al for me. We have lowered the flags at Town Hall to ho- nour his many years of ser- vice and contributions to our town." Ward 1 Town and Re- gional Councillor Sean O'Meara described Robin- son as a great mentor who served the residents of Ward 1 for 36 years with dignity and class and who brought humour and wit to everything he did. Oakville North-Bur- lington MP Pam Damoff al- so served with Robinson during her time on Oak- ville council. She said Robinson ex- emplified public service in so many ways, and de- scribed him as a fierce ad- vocate for Bronte. Those closest to him, however, are remembering Robinson as a man who was extremely passionate about his family and some- one who had a truly gentle soul. "He was special," said Kathy Hannay, Robinson's daughter. "He would do anything for his children, his grand- children, his great grand- children. He was very de- voted to them and they all remember that." Hannay said something else that distinguished Robinson was his love of helping people. In an interview with the Oakville Beaver following the announcement that he was retiring Robinson talked about serving the community as a councillor. "I love this job. I love be- ing councillor. I never wanted to be anything else but a town councillor ... the backyard guy," said Robin- son. He said a town council- lor is closer to the people than any elected politician noting these are the indi- viduals who visit with con- stituents in their back- yards and really form a dia- logue to see how they can help. "That's why they phone you. They don't call you to say hello. They phone you because they want your help and they expect you to respond," said Robinson. "I do respond ... I don't always get them what they want, but I try to help them and I have helped a lot of people." Robinson said there were many accomplish- ments he was proud of. These included things like establishing a park on Hixon Street and a tennis court in Lakeshore Woods. The Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cul- tural Centre and the devel- opment of the South Shell Park lands into a popular recreational space were other successes Robinson saw to fruition. He also worked with stu- dents from St. Dominic Catholic Elementary School to create the Bronte Veterans Garden, which honours fallen Canadian soldiers. Robinson's political ca- reer began long before he came to Oakville. He was previously in- volved in politics in Hali- fax, N.S. and St. John's N.L. Locally, in addition to his work on council, Robin- son's resumé included chairing the Bronte Creek environmental steering committee, acting as a founding member of the former community adviso- ry committee to Petro-Can- ada and the Lake Ontario shoreline algae action committee. He also chaired the Oak- ville Terry Fox Run for 25 years. Robinson was a founding director of the Oakville Sports Hall of Fame and past director of the Halton Multicultural Council. Before becoming in- volved in politics he spent 30 years in the financial and entrepreneurial indus- tries. In 1991, Robinson was nominated and elected by his peers to be a life mem- ber of the Association of Kinsmen Clubs and in 2009 he became the 11th Canadi- an recipient of the presti- gious Kin Award known as "Hal Rogers Fellow." He was also a life mem- ber, past president and om- budsman of the Minor Oaks Hockey Association and in 2012 was awarded the Queens Diamond Jubi- lee Medal. Robinson refused to slow down during his final months. On June 9 he joined his fellow Oakville Kinsman Club members in present- ing the Oak Park Food Bank with 2300 meals for its clients. The longtime councillor is survived by his wife Ma- rie, his three children, his 10 grandchildren and his four great grandchildren. A celebration of Robin- son's life will be held at a still to be determined fu- ture date. ROBINSON'S 'JOY OF LIFE INSPIRATIONAL' Family members and colleagues are fondly remembering long-time councillorr Ralph Robinson. Torstar file photo DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES MOURN LONGTIME COUNCILLOR