ROBERT METCALFE SR.

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ROBERT METCALFE SR. Robert Alexander Metcalfe Sr. died peacefully June 24, 2007 at age 86 in Victoria, BC. He is deeply mourned by his wife Akiko, his children (by his first wife Audrey), Bob, Valerie and Shelley, his surviving sister Thelma, his other relatives and all his friends throughout the world. Born in Winnipeg on November 17, 1920, his formal education ended, due to the Depression, after grade seven. Despite that he succeeded (following the war where he served in the merchant marine, then a stint as a mail truck driver) in joining his brother Ben as a reporter at the (now defunct) Winnipeg Tribune in 1952. By 1956 he was being sent to cover the Middle East crisis and the revolution in Hungary on behalf of Southam Newspapers. Thanks to Canada's reputation for neutrality, he was the first foreign correspondent allowed to report from inside the Suez war zone. He subsequently worked for Maclean Hunter (as regional editor in Manitoba then British Columbia), United Press in Tokyo, the Bangkok World and Bangkok Post; then freelanced for several years in Greece, Spain and England. After returning to Canada in the early 1970s, he joined the CBC where he worked in television (primarily) as a reporter and editor (in Calgary, Regina, and Fredericton) until he retired. A free spirit if ever there was one, he was on the road' for most of his adult life, trying to take in as much as he could of what the world has to offer. At his request there was no funeral. Donations may be made to a charity of one's choice. Atque in perpetuum, pater, ave atque vale And for eternity, father, hail and farewell

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 13, 2007