January 31, 2024
1947-2024 ~ The road in life doesn't always lead where we expect it. A small town boy, really, a village boy when the population of your town was under 2000, ended up blasting his way through remote British Columbia and running his own business until his retirement to Vancouver Island.
Along the way, he was married for 54 years, ran his own business for 35 years, played hockey, provided his two sons with opportunities they wanted to pursue, and doted on his two grandchildren.
It is with immense sadness that we announce that Robert "Bob" Romano unexpectedly passed away January 31, 2024 in Victoria, BC. Bob was a loving husband, father, grandfather /nono, son, brother, uncle, and friend.
Bob was born in Natal, BC, in 1947 and resided in Sparwood until moving to Hope in 1963. He is survived by his wife Leah, sons Brad (wife Michelle, son Nick) and Jamie (wife Erin, daughter Hazel), brothers Frank, Steve, Rick, Tom, and sister Debbie.
Bob was predeceased by his father Dominic "Manny" Romano and mother Mary.
For most of the 1970's, Bob worked blasting with a crew on the BC Hydro power line. Bob would work in various locations around the province and Leah and Brad would join him in the summer. In 1980, Bob then completely shifted gears and purchased Binette Photo in downtown Hope. That established Romano Photo and Frames. Bob and Leah built their "not-quite-forever"home on 6th avenue in 1984 and would raise their family there over the next 25 years.
Leah and Bob would fully retire in 2015 to Comox, BC, where they lived in close proximity to Jamie & Erin and in 2018, they moved to Ladysmith, BC. Bob and Leah took the opportunity to cross off some travel bucket list items including a trip to Italy with friends Richard and Donna, and a drive across Canada with Leah's sister Gail. Other trips included Toronto, Hawaii, and Nevada.
Despite losing his left eye to a hockey incident, Bob loved hockey. He was a defenseman for the Kal-Tire Hope Retreads well into his 60's; and was known for being a dedicated Montreal Canadians fan.
For the past 17 years, Bob's true joy has been his two grandchildren, Nick and Hazel. He and Leah would babysit, visit, and take the kids on day-trips and for weekends as often as they were able to. Hazel and her Nono were best friends. Nick and his Grandpa had lots of adventures together and Bob would attend Nick's lacrosse games as often as possible, even coming to Las Vegas to watch him play (missing Hazel's birth in 2019!).
The family would like to thank everyone for their support and kind words.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Bob at the Hope Legion, July 28, at 1pm.
Service Details
1:00 PM