In Memoriam: Bob Collens

Bob Collens (Robert John Collens, 12/31/1947-5/24/2009) was a man I got to know and spend some time with in 2007. He introduced himself to me one day and before long we were talking about common interests and experiences we had. Bob only had partial use of a car at the time and used to spend a lot of time alone. We used to go out driving to various parks in the Winnipeg area, eat out, and go to movies and stuff. Along the way, we shared each other’s life stories, quite a few laughs, and we talked about an astonishingly wide range of subjects including: cars, computers, fear, our families, hydrogen cars, politics, recovery, religion, terror, therapy, the women in our lives, and much else. Bob was a gentle friend and support.

After a while all friendships change and I didn’t see Bob at all in the last year or so. It was with much sadness I heard he had passed away after a short illness. Due to my own failure to keep in touch, I never got to say goodbye.

My best memories of Bob are:

  • The way he stuck his hand out to greet me the first time he introduced himself. I would never have done that myself.
  • Watching the amazed look on his face as he fed the chickadees at Bird’s Hill Park on a winter’s afternoon. He got five landings on his hand, and I got one.
  • Car shopping with Bob: we looked at everything on four wheels.
  • Bob eating a chocolate eclair from DeLuca’s.
  • Bob holding my vacuum cleaner and responding to my calls for “Suction!” when I was cleaning my Mac Mini to upgrade the memory.
  • Bob reacting to various things, including chickadees, chocolate eclairs, ice cream, and driving my car.
  • Bob being thoughtful and pensive.
  • Rest in peace, Bob.


    You can see some pictures of Bob on this slideshow.

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