ROBERT (BOB) BRENTON

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ROBERT (BOB) BRENTON

Robert “Bob” Brenton passed away peacefully at Seven Oaks Hospital, Winnipeg on December 25, 2024 at the age of 97. Bob was predeceased by Jeanette, his wife of 65 years, and his youngest son William.
Bob was born in Brandon, Manitoba on August 30, 1927 at the Brandon General Hospital. He grew up in Brandon as an active young boy and being outside as much as possible. He loved to play hockey and spent many hours playing hockey on the river in Brandon. He also loved spending time at his uncle’s farm, first in the Chater area and later south-east of Brandon. Bob used to walk to the farm in Chater to spend weekends with his sister Margaret, her husband Bob Thompson and their son Mark who was the same age as Bob. He told stories of riding the horse drawn sleigh from the farm into town, bundled up to ward off the cold and spending many hours exploring the farm. As he got older, he loved to spend many weekends helping on the farm.
Bob was the baby of the family. His siblings included Charlie, Margaret and Maizie. He was taken under the wing of his much older brother Charlie who he loved dearly. At 16, Bob and a friend tried to enlist in the army but were told to go home and grow up first. Instead, Bob went to work for Canadian Pacific Railway, working in the yard cleaning the old steam engines. Unfortunately, he was laid off and he and a friend hopped a freight train to the west coast. There, they worked on a farm near Ladner for a period of time before they were drawn back to Brandon. He went back to the CPR where he started working on the steam engines as a fireman shoveling coal and later moving up to be a locomotive engineer. Bob and family moved to Thunder Bay with the CPR for 18 months and then transferred to Winnipeg where they remained. Bob continued to work for the CPR for 45 years and retired in 1987.
Bob enjoyed his retirement working around the house, reading books he would get from his brother-in-law John, spending time with his grandchildren, traveling to Maricopa, Arizona with his youngest son Bill to escape the Winnipeg winters and traveling to see his oldest son Charles and his family. He enjoyed a long and full retirement lasting 37 years.
Bob met Jeanette Nazar in Brandon and immediately fell in love. They were married on April 27, 1957 and started their life together for the next 65 wonderful years. Bob and Jeanette had three children together, Charles, Patrick and William. Bob was a good father and devoted family man.
Bob is survived by his sons, Charles (Pauline) and Patrick (Stephanie) and grandchildren, Garrett, Meaghan, Matthew and Lucas.
A graveside celebration of Bob’s life will take place at the Brandon Cemetery Columbarium on Friday, May 23, 2025 at 1:00 p.m.

Condolences: www.memorieschapel.com

Publish Date: Jan 4, 2025

As published in Winnipeg Free Press, Brandon Sun on Jan 04, 2025