Obituary
ROBERT GEORGE BRAYMAN
AUGUST 1, 1943 – AUGUST 22, 2020
Robert George Brayman (Bob) moved west in 1971 and often remarked that he loved the big blue prairie sky too much to ever go back to his birthplace, Toronto. He grew up in Oakville, Ontario, the son of William and Margaret, brother of Heather. A good student and a standout athlete, Bob played basketball and football and ran track at Port Credit High School. Later he went on to play junior football and race flat water kayaks among other pursuits. Bob and Heather enjoyed a close relationship, their childhood and adolescence a source of colourful stories and misadventures.
But it was the love for his new wife Diane that brought him to Alberta to start a new life, first settling in Edmonton, then in Red Deer where his sons Christopher and Graham were born, and then on to St. Albert where the family put down roots. In addition to being a present and loving Dad to his sons, he was a well loved Uncle Bob to his nephews Allen, David and Paul Black, Brad, Greg and Jeff Celmainis, Bryan Ward and his niece Angie Clark, a devoted father-in-law to Beverly Milroy and later an adoring Grandpa to Elijah, Joshua, Kate and Alec.
Bob had studied sciences at University of Western Ontario and physical education at University of Toronto, but it was at Lakeshore Teacher’s College in Toronto and later at the University of Alberta that he found his calling as an English/Reading major. He was a supreme educator, teaching at all levels over his career as well as working as an education consultant and a school administrator. He mentored other teachers and negotiated on their behalf. He was a lover of language and the written word, teaching children with learning difficulties how to read and making history and literature come alive in the classroom. But much as he loved to teach Shakespeare, his students often remarked that should the class deem the course matter too cumbersome that day, a well placed query about his other passion could divert the lesson plans for the moment, because Bob also loved to talk about football…
In 1986 Bob was recruited to coach the inaugural high school football program in St. Albert. It was an inauspicious start, with few players and little experience, but Bob set out to recruit and train and build the program. He immersed himself in all aspects of the team, even laundering uniforms at home after games. The program steadily grew under his hand, winning a city championship in its third year. By 1990 the St. Albert Storm had become a perennial powerhouse, earning a provincial finalist title with several more to follow, and earning Bob the distinction of Football Alberta’s Amateur Coach of the Year. During the many years that Bob helmed the team, much as he was noted and applauded for his work on the field, assembling a ferocious squad on the gridiron season after season, he is remembered more for the stewardship and mentoring he gave countless young men. He took the time to get to know his players, invested in their lives and sought to inspire them to a greater version of themselves. He always said he would never cut a player who tried out and he never did. He looked upon his team not only as a place for athletic excellence but also as a community institution that gave meaning and identity to those who may have otherwise been overlooked elsewhere in adolescent life. As such, everyone had a spot on the team. Playing ball for Bob Brayman brought out the best in the young men who donned the jersey and he always made sure his players felt the greater call of teammanship over individual pursuit and sportsmanship over running up the score. His patented line in the pregame huddle was infamous—and resoundingly unfit for print— but it was a spirited rallying cry that never failed to bring his boys together as one. And he led by example; long hobbled by knee injuries he furiously limped up and down the sidelines, hollering at the refs and marshalling his squad until on one occasion they had to carry him off the field, his knee finally failing him for good. He didn’t leave coaching though, as the senior high girls’ basketball team was in need of his talents, and he devoted himself fully to his other beloved sport. As assistant basketball coach he was known for his wit and wisdom as well as his excited leaps off the bench whenever he saw a potential play. And despite his competitive nature, he always insisted on showing respect for the opposing team and for the officials.
To all the countless students who passed through his classes and players who took to the field or the court under his banner, he was a teacher and mentor, and to his family he was that and more. He was humorous, quirky, and quick with the succinct and fitting comment. They recall his Saturday afternoons spent lying on the floor in his signature sprawl, headphones on, cassette tapes in hand, methodically bootlegging the entire rock anthology the St. Albert Public Library had to offer on vinyl. Or concurrently watching four different football games on television whilst ironing shirts for the work week, studiously harvesting new ideas for his playbook and scrawling x’s, o’s and arrows on whatever paper he could find, once even on the back of his son’s homework. They remember his love of a freshly shorn lawn, a finely detailed vehicle and a firmly starched collar. They also remember his love affair with cheese. A section of the fridge was permanently reserved for his war chest which ranged from Stilton to Gouda and weighed in kilograms. Cheese was its own food group and partitioned in chunks, not slices. Crackers were but for show. It was a chunk for him and one for Woody, the family dog and Bob’s professed closest ally in the home. And when Bob finally noticed Woody starting to take on a similar waistline, ever the coach, he took it upon himself to put him on an exercise regime that involved driving him out to a country road to run alongside the vehicle, pinning it while he cranked a good Stones tune, a stirring portrait of beast, man and minivan… and crudely effective.
Bob Brayman was a man who could be easily moved by a beautiful poem or an act of courage on the field. A renaissance man with a clipboard, he was brought to tears equally by the splendor of Yeats’ words or a furious fourth quarter comeback. Always a fan of the underdog, “They showed heart” was something he would often say. Fortitude was an enduring principle in his life and the price of admission for his admiration, regardless of the pursuit, regardless of the outcome. Music filled his home always and it was a birthright to his sons. He had eclectic tastes, bound only by the essential tenet that it had to have soul. Be it moving lyrics, a solid riff, a classical piece or “a great set of pipes”, if it was emotive and resonant it found its way into his collection. Suitably, “rock on!” was another one of his rallying cries, said in various tones and decibels, usually with a sturdy pump of the fist. Life was to be lived. He loved good wine and good food; he loved baking bread and taking culinary classes. He loved vacations spent in Provence and afternoons touring art galleries or browsing in book shops. He loved his wife dearly, took pride in his sons and remained fiercely loyal to his friends and extended family.
Those who knew Bob knew he had a turn of phrase for every occasion. He would often use idioms of his father and grandfather that no longer quite made sense to anyone but him. To his colleagues his famous line was “I don’t do mixers”, as he loved to play the role of the curmudgeon, but in truth adored the company of people. And he especially loved a “character”, someone with a zany sense of humour or those who marched to the beat to their own drum. “He’s out there” he would say with a bemused smile. But the highest compliment he could pay a man was to say he was a gentleman… a “gentle man”. Bob Brayman was a gentle man himself and ascribed to the qualities of decency, honesty and integrity above all else. He sought it in others, friends and strangers alike. He had an old world sensibility and he measured success not in the sum of one’s achievements and accolades but in the vast spaces in between, in the daily workmanship of being a good man. Bob was empathetic and would always strive to find a grain of commonality with anyone with whom he engaged. He found truth in shared experience, even if only in a passing laugh with another. He made those around him feel valued. As his daughter-in-law once poignantly told him, “you allow the light to shine on others”.
And if anyone allowed the light to shine on him it was his beloved grandchildren. They filled his life with such immense joy that his face lit up whenever he saw them. His love for them knew no bounds and his final words of wisdom and guidance were well chosen messages for each of them, a bridge to the next generation.
Robert George Brayman died peacefully under a brilliant blue sky on August 22, 2020 in Kelowna, British Columbia, where he and Diane had happily retired to a comfortable home overlooking the lake, mountains, vineyards and pine trees. He had said to his eldest son in hospital a few days prior that he wanted only a little more time with his family and then just to “fade away”. Surrounded by loved ones, he did just that, with grace and dignity and the peace afforded to a man who had lived a good life. In his final days he had let the light shine on his family once more and they onto him. Bob had always said: “In the end, the only thing a person wants in life is to love and be loved”. And when he left us that Saturday afternoon, he sailed into the mystic a man fulfilled.
When current restrictions cease, Bob’s family will plan a celebration of his life for all his friends and family. In the meantime, those who wish to honour Bob are asked to donate to their local homeless shelter or women’s shelter. Bob always looked out for the folks who needed a hand up and he would appreciate this thoughtful gesture in his memory.
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Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Robert George Brayman August 1 1943

August 22 2020..

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Décès pour la Ville: Kelowna, Province: Colombie britanique

avis deces Robert George Brayman August 1 1943

August 22 2020

avis mortuaire Robert George Brayman August 1 1943

August 22 2020