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.
Addi Strasser
I am so sorry to hear of Bob’s passing.
I spent many a late evening hanging out with Bob back in the late ’90s, drinking St. Remy Napoleon Brandy, and discussing everything under the sun. He’d regale me with tales of his travels on the Dempster highway, stories of “daughter Michelle” and “son Jim”. He was a great mind and a kind heart, and I’ll never forgot popping by his place one afternoon to find Bob in the shower – fully clothed! – washing his beloved rock collection.
Rest in Peace, Bob
Robert Trott
Our unforgettable friend Bob will live forever in our hearts. Rob and Joan Trott and family
John Miller
This is sad news. Although I failed to maintain contact, his influence on my life 45 years ago was profound. My heart goes out to Meshell and Jim and the extended network of friends and family. The wisdom he shared stands outside of time, outside of a lifespan.
DARRYL SHERMAN
As a former student , Bob was instrumental in my life and those of my contemporary colleagues. He challenged us to question everything and to be open to new ideas and learn something new every day . Today I learned that he was a baseball legend .
He loved to share Sufi stories . One of my favourite memories is his reminder “
To an ass, a thistle is a delicious fruit . The ass eats the thistle, he remains an ass”.
Reading this wonderful story of his life
Peter Pickfield
Message from four former students of Bob (University of Western Ontario (circa 1977- 1981) Craig Simons, John Miller, Peter Pickfield and Darryl Sherman:
We were once foolish young university students who met on the campus of the University of Western Ontario back in 1977 . The only thing we had in common is that were all enrolled in a course called the “History of Western Political Thought” – taught by a professor unlike any other we had ever encountered: Professor Robert Melvin .
Professor Bob’s official job in that course was to (somehow) inspire foolish young political science majors to engage with the great thinkers – most long dead – who wrote about political philosophy, often in ancient by-gone societies. At some point we realized that what he was really teaching us to do was to draw outside the lines. To think outside the box. To take the box down and start over again. How to think for ourselves.
We all kept taking Bob’s courses together. His seminars were open forums for student ideas. The four of us dressed up and did comedy skits. Bob presided with joyful laughter, patience and encouragement as we struggled to make a connection between the subject matter of the course and an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Meanwhile, Bob, himself, was participating in a lifelong dialogue with those great political thinkers. One of us once spotted him alone in a campus cafeteria late on a Friday night reading the Leviathan in a cold sweat, swearing out loud. “You son of a bitch”, he said – as if Hobbs was across the table from him. When a student catches a professor behaving like this, most professors would be embarrassed. Bob just looked up and smiled. He said ”Don’t underestimate old Hobbs – he’s a wily trickster but he deserved our full attention…”
Bob approached the great political thinkers the same way he approached his students, colleagues and friends: with humility, respect, humour, diligence, courage, passion and boundless energy. He taught thousands of us over the years. He left the four of us, and we can only assume many others, with an ingrained sense of the wonder and magic that is available for the asking…. if only we engage fully and honestly with life.
What a gift to offer the world.
Thank you Bob.