Robert Findlay “Bob” Munroe (1936 – 2009)

Robert Finlay Munroe was born in Vancouver and moved with this parents Malcolm and Lillian Munroe to Dawson in the 1930s. Bob left school in grade ten and worked in the shop at Bear Creek. He then worked as a cook on a cat train for a short time. He attended trade school in Calgary and learned to weld. He returned to the Yukon and worked on the dredges by joining the Union of Operating Engineers. He took his skill in welding dredges to South America and worked in Peru, Bolivia, and Columbia. He married in Saskatoon while on a short visit to Canada and he and his wife travelled to Dawson and Peru. In 1966, he returned to Canada with their new son Malcolm.¹⁾

The Munroes settled in Vancouver were Bob worked as a welder and equipment operator for the Union of Operating Engineers. Through the 1970s, Bob and his family travelled through BC and Yukon to jobs at various road and construction sites. In 1980, they moved to Mission, British Columbia. In 1997, he returned to the Yukon and, with partner Ann Johnson, reconnected with family and friends. He sat in the public gallery of the Yukon Legislature and was eventually asked to serve as the Sergeant of Arms. One of his proudest moments was seeing his sister, Geraldine Van Bibber, sworn in as Commissioner of the Yukon.²⁾