Born: 1853, Died: 1937
Married: Berah Bechtel
Robert Dobbin was born in 1853 in Palmyra, Missouri and came to Waterloo in the late 1860s. He attended Berlin High School, the Normal School and the University of Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He began a local teaching career that took him to Breslau, Petersburg and Baden. In 1899 he gave up the teaching career and was appointed Superintendent of Public Works for Waterloo (later called the P.U.C.). He remained in that position until his retirement in 1935. Dobbin had earlier married Berah Bechtel, a sister of Byron Bechtel who owned a brickyard in Waterloo. When he died in 1937 his obituary writer commented that ‘he was a genial and well-known person in the community.” Dobbin’s son, Harold, operated a garage c1920 in the old Johnny Canuck cigar factory at King and William Sts. The business was later moved to Kitchener.
Sources:
Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle, May 4, 1937.
Historical Atlas of Waterloo and Wellington Counties.
Kitchener Waterloo Record, September 19, 1959.
Robert O. Dobbin Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Robert O. Dobbin from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1853-1937
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Dobbin, Robert ; Bechtel, Berah ; Dobbin, Harold
- Corporate Name(s)
- Johnny Canuck
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.46
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
