BHIMJI o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-12-24 published
CLARKE,
Robert
Lee
(April 17, 1922-December 22, 2005)
Robert Lee
CLARKE died early Thursday morning of cancer. He was
born in Vermilion, Alberta on April 17, 1922 to Harold J.
CLARKE
and Leonora Opfergelt
CLARKE. He was educated in Vermilion, then
at the University of Alberta (1939-1943), where he received the
Governor General's Medal upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science.
He went on to McGill University (1945-1948) to receive a Ph.D.
in Physics. He worked at the National Research Council from 1943
to 1945, and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. from 1948 to 1968.
He then joined the Physics Department of Carleton University
where he served as department chair in the 1970s. He formally
retired in 1987, but continued to work in Medical Physics research
as Professor Emeritus, and served on university committees, right
up until the month before he died. In addition, he spent many
periods of research at the Institute of Cancer Research at the
Royal Marsden Hospital in Belmont, Surrey, United Kingdom. He
was instrumental in setting up the medical physics research section
at Carleton University and assisted in setting up the Ottawa
Medical Physics Institute in 1989. On the occasion of the fifteenth
anniversary of the Ottawa Medical Physics Institute, the Robert
Clarke Graduate Scholarship in Medical Physics was set up. Devoted
to Canada and to physics, Bob was a member of the Canadian Association
of Physics from the beginning and enjoyed many professional and
personal Friendships.
In 1943 he met Vera
POWELL at N.R.C. They were colleagues in
the Optics Section, and were married in 1945. There are four
children: James (Betty
LAM,)
Gwyneth
(Craig
LEWIS,) Alan (Madeline
WELD,) and Brian (Sandra
COONEY.)
There are eleven grandchildren:
Owen (Carolina
IBARRA), Roger (Becci
GINDIN) and Edwin
CLARKE,
Brandon, Denise (Mike
BILLY), Eleanor and Anna
LEWIS; Ansel and
Derwin CLARKE; and Liam and Colleen
CLARKE; and three great grand
children: Catherine, Reeva, and Mike Billy. Bob will also be
remembered by Betty and Lloyd
STACKHOUSE,
Patricia
CLARKE (late
Donald), and nephews and nieces. His many Friends enriched and
broadened his life.
Bob's interests were wide-ranging. He enjoyed games of tennis,
and later squash until early 2005. For many years he flew small
airplanes, in the United Kingdom and
in Canada. He bicycled around
Ottawa and took grandchildren boating on Dow's Lake. He enjoyed
concerts at the National Arts Centre, attended Wednesday meetings
at Riverside Kiwanis and delivered Meals on Wheels, where his
regular Christmas delivery will be missed by many. He travelled
extensively in Canada and in the United Kingdom and in many other
parts of the world from Nigeria to Japan and places in between.
The family would like to thank Dr.
BHIMJI and the staff on A5
at the Ottawa Civic Hospital for their care and compassion.
There will be a Private Family Funeral Service, and a Public
Memorial Gathering at Carleton University at a date to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to
the Robert Clarke Graduate Scholarship in Medical Physics, care
of Carleton University, or a charity of your choice.
Condolences/Donations/Tributes at www.mcgarryfamily.ca or 613-233-1143.
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