Robert (Bob) Andrew Melvin
We are brokenhearted to announce that Robert (Bob) Andrew Melvin of Pierson, Manitoba, passed away peacefully on March 30th, 2026, in Whitehorse, Yukon at the age of 86.
Bob was born on the 8th of November 1939 in Deloraine Manitoba, the son of Elizabeth (nee LeBarron) and Andrew Melvin, and brother to Jim and Brian. The brothers were raised on a farm outside of Pierson, Manitoba and Bob cherished his boyhood on the land and in the community. He was a gifted academic and athlete, whose first big love was baseball. As a teen be played on the Lyleton team that dominated the league from 1955-1960, and was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Brandon College in 1960, where he received the Lieutenant Governor’s gold medal. The following year he began postgraduate studies at McGill and then in 1961, the Brandon Rotary Club awarded him a scholarship for study in England. Over the next two years he studied Political Science at the University of Manchester, which led him to earning a PhD in political science at the University of Alberta in 1968. This was the start of his teaching career.
While in Edmonton, Bob married Alice Evans of Millerville, Alberta and they had two children, Michelle (Meshell) in 1966 and James (Jim) in 1969. In 1969 the family moved to London, Ontario where Bob got a position in the political science department at the University of Western Ontario. His lectures were a dynamic and creative approach to the history of western political thought. He challenged and inspired his students to question their ways of thinking, and in so doing, transformed lives. He was given the university award for excellence in teaching more than once, but it was the long waiting lines to get into his classes that was the real testimony to the impact he had in the classroom.
Bob took early retirement from the university in 1997. With a home base in Pierson, he lived a simple, nomadic life and studied Buddhist traditions. He spent time in silent retreats at the Vipassana Meditation Centre in Massachusetts, practiced the Vajrayana tradition in California and drove the Dempster Highway as often as he could. A kind, loving, generous father, whose support for his children was as unconditional as it was unwavering. He crisscrossed the country many times between Montreal and Yukon to spend time with them; his grandsons Zac and Max, and all the relatives and friends in between.
In 2013 Bob pulled up his prairie roots and moved back to Ontario, settling in Grand Bend and starting a second family with Edith Alexi (Lexi) Devlin and her daughter Meghan. Following the death of Lexi in 2020 and in the early stages of dementia, Bob moved to Whitehorse to live with his daughter Meshell, who cared for him during his final years.
Honouring Bob’s wishes, his ashes will be laid to rest in his beloved community of Pierson. His Internment will be held at the cemetery on the 5th of September at 1 pm. A Celebration of his life will follow at 1:30 in the town hall. Everyone whose lives were touched by this kindhearted, thoughtful soul is invited to attend.
He will be deeply missed and forever remembered by; his children Meshell and Jim (Maggie); grandchildren Zac and Max; brothers Jim (Frieda) and Brian (Nancy); cousin and lifelong friend Don Melvin; nieces and nephews; Liz, Rob, Rick, Jamie, Andy, Lorena, Leanne and Robert; great nieces and nephews, and a score of loving friends and devoted students.
