Robert (Bob) Spence, a former advisor to the Minister of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, has died at age 81 following a brief battle with cancer.
Spence, who served with the Canadian military during the Second World War, moved to Yellowknife in 1964 with his family to work for Giant Mine as the superintendent of exploration. He spent almost 20 years working for the mine until becoming the senior minerals advisor to the minister of Indian affairs in 1982.
He returned north in the early 1990s, with his wife Ruth, to run the N.W.T. Association of Professional Engineers, Geologist and Geophysicists, of which he was a founding member.
Spence was also a founding member of the N.W.T. Chamber of Mines, and a life member of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (CIM).
Not one to shy away from community development, as chair of the Yellowknife District Education Council, Spence helped guide construction of the Mildred Hall Elementary School in Yellowknife in 1967.
He is survived by his wife Ruth and five children.
The N.W.T. Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists (NAPEGG) have established the Bob Spence Memorial Scholarship. Donations can be mailed to: NAPEGG, Suite 201, 4817-49th St., Yellowknife, N.W.T., X1A 3S7.
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