We regret to advise of the death of Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Somers Tate (Ret’d) peacefully at the Camp Hill Veterans’ Memorial Building, Halifax NS on 24 November 2011 at the age of 91.
Bob was born in Montreal, QC but grew up in Toronto, ON. He entered Upper Canada College at age 16 followed by the University of Toronto a year later. With the outbreak of WW II he joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps and subsequently enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1940 and was assigned to the 23rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, with which he fought throughout the liberation of Europe. One of the accomplishments he was most proud of was his contribution to Operation BERLIN, the rescue operation on the night of 25 September 1944 of British paratroopers who had been trapped behind German lines at Arnhem after Operation MARKET GARDEN. He was in command of the construction of a bridge to allow rescue boats to be delivered to the flood wall prior to their being launched into the Rhine River.
Following the war, Bob concluded an electrical engineering degree at the University of Toronto after which he began a successful career in Montreal with Canadian General Electric. On retiring from CGE in 1983, he joined Harris & Roome Distribution Ltd for two years before moving to the Federal Business Development Bank as a Case Counsellor from 1985 to 1990.
Bob spent countless hours volunteering with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind serving as President of the Atlantic chapter and as a member of the National Council for which he was presented with the Arthur Napier Magill Award in 2007. He was also an active contributor to All Saints Anglican Church in Bedford NS as an usher, reader and financial consultant. {gdFeb2016kh}
