In Memory of Tecwyn Roberts
1929-2009
 TECWYN ROBERTS |
Former Vancouver Welsh Society president Tecwyn Roberts passed away on November 21 after a lengthy illness. He will be remembered in the Welsh community for his many contributions to the Society.
Tecwyn Roberts was born in Llanrwst, on the edge Snowdonia National Park in North Wales, where he spent his youth as an avid sportsman, playing cricket, rugby, field hockey and soccer. He also loved to climb the local mountains with childhood friends.
From 1948 to 1950 he served with the British forces in Malaya as part of his National Service, following which he joined the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in London.
It was there that he met the love of his life, Deirdre. Tecwyn soon transferred to Ottawa with the Bank of Nova Scotia and he and Deirdre were married in St. Patrick’s Church in Ottawa in 1956.
The couple moved to Montreal, then Winnipeg, and eventually the West Coast, settling in Coquitlam, where they lived for 44 years.
Tecwyn had a long and distinguished career in banking, eventually retiring from the National Bank of Canada in 1996.
In addition to his activities with the Welsh Society, he had many other retirement interests, maintaining an avid interest in politics, sports, gardening and travelling all over the world with Deidre.
Tecwyn leaves behind his wife Deirdre, four children, Nicholas, Catherine, Jennifer and Chris, and nine grandchildren.
A funeral service for Tecwyn was held on Monday, November 30 at All Saints Catholic Church in Coquitlam. A gathering followed in the church hall, where family members paid tribute to Tecwyn’s greatest joy, his love for his family.
Welsh Society member John Pritchard also remembered his long-time friend in an eulogy sprinkled with some phrases in Welsh, another of Tecwyn’s joys.
Tecwyn will be especially missed at the Sunday services in the Cambrian Hall where he enjoyed singing the old Welsh hymns and speaking his first language with his many friends.
| 
