Robert(Bob) Carmen Bannister passed away, unexpectedly, in his sleep at St Joseph's General Hospital in Comox BC on 30 November 2012. He was predeceased by his wife Doreen, and is survived by his daughters Donna(Mike) & Brenda(Ralph), grandsons Kyle(Stephanie), Kurt & Brett and great granddaughter Alexia. Robert Carmen Bannister was born in the County of Brant in Ontario on October 20, 1929, the son of Stanley and Florence (nee Vivian).Bannister. Bob was raised on the family farm near Wilsonville ON. In August, 1948, he was accepted into the RCMP and began his training in Regina. He finished his training in 1949, and was sent to "F" division in Regina and then to the Melville Detachment. While attached to Melville, he took his mounted training (Musical Ride) in Regina, assisted with the Winnipeg flood that year, as well as taking motorcycle training in Calgary. In 1950, he was transferred to Kamsack for a year, and while there, met Doreen Brown. He was then moved to Langenburg, finishing in Foam Lake in 1952. He was accepted to the Police Dog Section and transferred to Sydney NS. He was given a Police Service Dog named Ranger and returned to Yorkton in 1953. Bob married Doreen Brown, in Kamsack, on November 15, 1953. Over the years, Bob and Doreen moved at the whim of the RCMP. They started their married lives in Yorkton, until the birth of their daughter Donna in 1956. The family was posted back to Kamsack for one year then, moved on to Esterhazy, where their second daughter, Brenda, was born in 1958. The Bannister family was sent back to Yorkton in 1959, moving to Melville in 1961, then on to Fillmore in 1963, and Eston in 1967. During the summer of 1967, Bob was in charge of Confederation Truck Caravan #7 and traveled around Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Bob retired from the RCMP in 1968, and they decided to call Regina home. There he was employed in the insurance business until 1973, when the family moved to Woodstock ON. The Bannisters would call Woodstock home until 1997, then Bob and Doreen returned to Yorkton to enjoy their retirement and be closer to Doreen's Mother, who was then living in a nursing home in Kamsack. Doreen passed away in 2007, and Bob remained in Yorkton until 2011, when he moved to Comox to be near his daughters, who had both been moved, at different times, by the Canadian Forces, to that location. In accordance with Bob's wishes, there will be no service and his ashes will be interred next to Doreen's, at the RCMP Depot Cemetery in Regina, Saskatchewan on Monday, June 24 at 11:00am.
