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A Royal Canadian Navy Historical Project
In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar
ROBERTS, Raymond Lyndon (Ray) - age 65, of Dartmouth, passed away on December 10, 2019, in the Halifax Infirmary, QEII. Born in Victoria, B.C., he moved to Dartmouth with his family to start Grade 3. Ray graduated from Dalhousie University with a BSc. and an MBA from St. Mary's University. He enjoyed lifelong learning and graduated with several other business-related certifications over his life. Upon graduation, he worked with the Provincial Treasury Board, then the Nova Scotia Research Foundation as a marketing analyst and advisor for new product development. In this capacity, he worked in training small business support groups in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Egypt and South Africa. One of his most challenging and interesting assignments was working with a start-up biotechnology company to commercialize their innovative rapid tests for detecting shellfish toxins. This took him to far-flung places such as Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and parts of Europe. He later joined the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), where he worked with hospital and university researchers and the private sector in the life sciences sector, to help commercialize innovative technologies. He found his work at ACOA particularly satisfying. For 20 years, Ray was a member of the Naval Reserves, joining HMCS Scotian in 1972, where he worked part time and summers throughout his civilian career. He enjoyed going to sea and quickly rose through the ranks and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Last summer he organized a Halifax reunion of his Naval Reserve Officer colleagues. Ray was also a long-standing volunteer with Saint John Ambulance, serving two terms as President of the Nova Scotia Council, and also volunteered on many national boards and committees of the organization. One of the proudest moments of his life was when he was promoted to Knight, in the Order of Saint John, during a ceremony in the Senate in Ottawa, 2010. Another memorable moment was when he was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal, by the Federal Public Service, for his charitable work and development of wellness initiatives at ACOA. Ray took an early interest in music and learned to play the drums at age 13, which he enjoyed throughout his life, playing in many dance bands in high school, university and beyond. Some of his favourite times were with the ACOA "Replayables", Jazzscapes and the Bethany Jazz Quartet, where he performed at the Jazz Vespers service at Bethany United Church in Halifax. Ray had a lifelong passion about learning about wine, and spent 14 years as President of the German Wine Society in Halifax, offering educational sessions for members. He taught wine appreciation courses through Dartmouth Continuing Education for a few years. In 2015 he became a certified Professional Sommelier, and enjoyed travel to many wine destinations around the world. Ray was an avid traveler and enjoyed many cruises and travel to Europe, the Caribbean, South East Asia, South Africa, Turkey, Russia and Morocco. Ray enjoyed skiing and playing tennis, particularly at St. George's Tennis Club in Dartmouth. He was a long-term subscriber to both Neptune and Symphony Nova Scotia, which gave him much pleasure. He loved animals, especially dogs, and will be forever best friends of Tobi and Maggie. Ray was predeceased by his father, Lionel; mother, Pauline; and dearly-beloved sister, Susan. He is survived by his oldest sister, Paulette Gardner; nieces, Rosette (Ian) McEwan, and Trina (Adam) Greenwood and grandnieces, Madeline and Jillian McEwan, Clare and Jenna Greenwood. A celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 19th in Atlantic Funeral Home, Dartmouth Chapel, 771 Main St., Dartmouth, Rev. James Haughn officiating. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favourite cancer society. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald 14 Dec 2019)
Ships served in:
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For Posterity's Sake 
