TREVISON, ROBERT LEANDER
Feb. 9, 1932 - Feb. 27, 2009
"The finest pleasure is kindness to others." - Jean de La Bruyere
Robert Trevison was born and raised in Trail B.C. during the Depression.
From an early age family and friends recognized his wit, his compassion,
his strong moods and an incisive, versatile mind, equally at home with
poetry, physics and fishing. As a teen, he was a Latin scholar, a
smelter worker, a musician who played trombone in the Maple Leaf Band
and an outdoorsman with a passion for the beauty of Kootenay Lake.
After receiving his B.Sc. in Metallurgical Engineering at the Montana
School of Mines in 1956, he married childhood sweetheart Janet Brown and
worked as a research engineer in high purity metals for Cominco Ltd. in
Trail. In 1961, he became the technical driving force behind the new
Cominco Electronic Materials unit in Spokane, eventually patenting new
processes while developing cutting edge products for customers such as
Intel, Texas Instruments and IBM. As production manager, he was a
charismatic leader who recognized people's talents and helped them reach
their potential. His efforts helped build the operation from a group of
four to a commercially successful enterprise of 350. At the same time,
he raised a family, caring for his wife during her long battle with
cancer and for their three children following her death in 1978. After
his retirement in 1991, he spent his life savings to buy Camp Lourdes on
Kootenay Lake as a legacy for the Trevison family.
 His varied interests - from growing tomatoes and making antipasto to
building and fixing almost anything to appreciating books, art and music
- made him welcome in every walk of life. "He had a unique capability of
sizing up people at the first encounter, and tailoring his words and his
behavior and body language to establish easy contact," said friend and
former boss Dr. Eb Hirsch. "It was one of the great gifts he had."
He was passionate about socioeconomic fairness and a knowledgeable
critic of politics and government, although as his health weakened he
despaired of his ability to create change. "He was so well informed on
everything," said friend and political activist Sally Jackson. He "had a
real passion for what was right."
His primary interests were the fate of neglected children and mistreated
animals, particularly the millions of dogs and cats killed in the U.S.
each year. Neighbors grew used to seeing their pets among his own pack
of dogs - mostly former strays - enjoying home-cooked meals, a good
scratch and rides in his car, generally receiving better care than he
gave himself.
Countless people who never knew Robert Trevison's name will remember his
humor or one of his daily acts of respect and generosity. He helped
stranded migrant workers push their broken truck to a service station,
paying for the part they couldn't afford. He shoveled travelers out of
snowy ditches, bought diapers for the mother outside the grocery store
and slipped cash to parents with hungry kids. "He just had the kindest
heart. He was the most giving person we ever met," said friend Ken
Safranek. "He was always thinking about 'How am I going to help that
poor person out there in the street?'"
Although physically fragile at the end of his life and relying on help
from his son, his intelligence remained undimmed. He died at home,
asleep in his favorite chair. He was preceded in death by parents Peter
and Emma Trevison of Trail B.C; wife Janet; and daughter Erica, who died
in infancy. Survivors include companion Evelyn Smith; son Peter of
Spokane; daughters Nancy (Michel Rain) of Nelson, B.C. and Catherine
(Charles Blanke) of Portland, Oregon; and one granddaughter. He is also
survived by sister Eleanor of Trail B.C; and brothers David (Claudette)of Penticton B.C.
and Louis (Lillian) of Newbury Park, Calif.
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