Patrick Robson – December 11, 1961 to August 25, 2024
A Brief & Personal Tribute from Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
Posted September 5th, 2024
Patrick Robson, a model public servant and teacher who cared passionately about the community
I have been writing so many tributes lately to significant others who have passed in our region of Niagara that it should be getting easier.
But it is never gets easier. It is hard and this one is going to be hard too.
It is especially hard this time because I am still recovering from the shock I felt after hearing the news more than a week ago from a mutual friend and admirer of Patrick Robson – a good person and a model public servant who made a daily practice of putting the interests of the public in our communities across Niagara first, and a passionate teacher who inspired so many students during his all-to-short time as a teacher in the Environmental Management Program at Niagara College – had died so suddenly this past August 25th at age of 62.
I first met Patrick more than a decade ago when I was working for a brief time in communications for Niagara’s Regional Government.
It was in or around 2010 when he was still working as a planner in the Region’s Planning Department before becoming the Department’s Commissioner, then later serving for a short time as the Region’s acting Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) before a cabal of bad actors took over the administrative reigns in 2014 and made it awful, if not impossible for good people like him to stay on
Patrick Robson, along with Melissa Galicia were named Niagara College’s Educators of the Year in 2020.
One of the things that struck me the most about Patrick during the time I first got to know him is how much time and energy he was willing to invest. always so enthusiastically, in addressing issues of interest and concern to everyday people outside of the walls – walls, by the way, that could be quite alienating – of the Niagara Regional Headquarters.
He was also a person blessed with a rare combination of being a leader who would not hesitate to move decisively when circumstances called for it and someone who always took the time to listen and learn from others.
Patrick was so there for the community good that every time I found myself getting angry over paying my property taxes, I thought of the all-to-few public servants like him and settled down.
From everything I heard, he brought many of those same qualities to his role as a teacher at Niagara College and what a loss it is that he won’t be there for the and college and the students as they begin a new academic year.
In summary, I know I am far from the only one who felt that Patrick Robson was one of the best people to contact if you were struggling with ideas or looking for advice on ways to protect and improve on the quality of life in our communities and I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that he will never be there to contact again.
It has become a cliché to say, when someone passes, that they will be sorely missed. But in Patrick’s case I know that for so many people across our Niagara region, and especially his wife Kelly and family who I express my condolences to, that is most certainly true.
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RIP My Friend- Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
The family invites people to join them in honouring Patrick’s life this Friday, September 6th at 11AM at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul Street, St.Catharine in Niagara, Ontario.
To read the official obituary, click on –https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/st-catharines-on/patrick-robson-11957836
In 2016, after Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Patrick and his wife Kelly, both fans of the Tragically Hip, contributed a moving tribute, complete with photos, to Niagara At Large. You can read it by clicking on – Another Side To Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie | Niagara At Large
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Niagara At Large 
Hi Doug,
It is so difficult to write a tribute of a dear friend/relative who has passed away. Sometimes it is hard to find the “right” words or the words are just not there. For Patrick the words are so many……..He touched so many with “his” words, his expressions, humour, challenges, knowledge (and the list goes on).
I knew Patrick as the teenage boy who lived across the street and meeting him again a few short years ago (thank you Jocelyn), was amazed at the man he had become.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on “Niagara at Large”. He touched so many hearts and I am sure when others read your recollections of how you met Patrick and his personal impact, their own memories of this fine man will come flooding back.
Sending hugs to you……Della Trojan
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