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September 21, 1943 – July 1, 2021
It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to our youngest sister Wendy, who passed away in Palm Desert, California on July 1, 2021.
Wendy was a natural athlete who excelled in whatever sport she chose and thrived on socializing wherever she went. This was evident when, in her youth, she skillfully rode the family bike around Crescent Beach, delivering newspapers and making friends.
After graduating from Semiahmoo High School in 1960 – where she competed in basketball, volleyball and track and field – and UBC’s Faculty of Education in 1965, she moved to Kelowna to become high school gym teacher and role model for many young athletes.
It was here that she met and married Gerry Robertson and passionately participated in summer and winter sports. Wendy could be found on the golf course in the summer and ski the interior mountains in the winter; she suffered a severe green stick fracture while skiing that left her with steel pins in one leg for the rest of her life.
In 1977, her husband, Gerry, was killed in a car crash, which shattered her life and left her widowed at 34. After this tragic event, Wendy worked for Sport BC, promoting the growth of amateur sport in British Columbia and traveling across the province. It was around this time that she used sports to cope with her grief and took up cross-country running, becoming an accomplished marathoner.
Over the next several years, she competed in the Masters category at the Vancouver, Hawaii, Tokyo and Boston Marathons, running a total of 22.
In 1985, she had the privilege of working briefly with the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Tour, preparing for the tour to set up accommodations etc. All the while, she approached life with the determination and discipline of an elite athlete – with energy and an enviable joie de vivre.
She then moved to Palm Desert, California to be with her partner Bobby MacFarlane, and she spent the winters there until her death. She and Bobby traveled to Europe and Mexico during the summers and finally escaped the desert heat when they bought a condo in False Creek in Vancouver, which meant “coming home” and a chance to see family. and friends every year. In California, Wendy sold real estate and played golf and tennis, and kept track of many friends in many places.
She was admired, envied and loved by so many people and will be truly missed.
She was predeceased by her husband, Gerry Robertson; his parents, Gilbert and Jessie McKay; his older sister, Ruth Kendall; and in 2020, his partner Bobby MacFarlane.
Wendy is survived by sisters Keenie Scott (Kelowna), Nonie Meek (Calgary), Pat Summers and Jeanie Kromm (South Surrey) and beloved nieces, nephews and cousins, all of whom will greatly miss her smile, her laughter and hugs – just like many friends in White Rock, Vancouver, Kelowna and Palm Desert.
Due to the pandemic, no celebration of life is planned at this time.
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