Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 21/01) - Dr. Bob Findlay, 67, died Monday morning in the extended care ward at the Stanton Regional Hospital. He was suffering from complications arising from diabetes.

Dr. Bob Findlay: Some say he was the first chiropractor to practise in the North.

A city politician, newspaper columnist, chiropractor, cab driver, janitor, square-dancer, husband, father and grandfather, family members remember him as a jack-of-all trades, working tirelessly.

Born in Montreal, he moved his family to Yellowknife in 1970, leaving his fingerprints on almost every facet of city life.

He opened two chiropractic clinics in the city. Some say he was the first chiropractor to practise in the North.

But even in medicine, Findlay kept a political edge, lobbying the territorial government to introduce Northern regulations.

For many, it was his practice that left a lasting impact.

"If you added all the people who went to him it would equal the population of Yellowknife," said former mayor Pat McMahon, who toiled with Findlay on the municipal political scene from 1979 to 1994.

But it was city politics that lit his fire, said his wife, Joan Findlay.

He cut his political teeth in Drayton Valley, Alta., where he served as mayor in the late 1960s.

In 1974 Findlay quit working underground at Giant Mine to enter the mayor's race. He believed Yellowknife was run by an elite clique and wanted the common person's voice heard, said his daughter, Bonnie Fournier.

He battled Bob Walton and won, serving as mayor for two years.

Politics played out differently then. The population was only 7,000 and fried chicken outlets ran opinion polls.

In 1976, Findlay ran against Fred Henne and lost. He never became mayor again but won a string of elections as councillor until he retired 1994.

That year the city named him honourary councillor.

After recovering from a period of illness, he tried for a council seat again in 1997 but lost and hung up his political hat.

He had a hand in developing the Frame Lake subdivision when it was slated to become a mental institution.

"I like to think I talked the commissioner into freeing up the land for a subdivision," wrote Findlay in an essay on his life published in the book Yellowknife Tales.

"I think the city of Yellowknife and all of its people have lost someone who has been a friend to many, a civic supporter as well as a business man," said McMahon. "All three of those are quite a loss for the city."

"He was tough fighter," said Ruth Spence, who served on council with Findlay.

Joan Findlay will miss Bob Findlay most of all.

She met him during Grade 11 French class in Timmins, Ont. Findlay, just in from Montreal, awed the class with his almost "Parisian" French.

Much later he asked for her hand in marriage during a night of Guy Lombardio swing music and dance at the Castle Loma in Toronto.

In 1957 they married in a small Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., church, Joan's home town.

Dr. Findlay is survived by his wife, Joan, four children: Bonnie Fournier, Robb Findlay, Laurie McLeod, and Jamie Findlay; five grand-children; and one sister, Jean Bolgatz.

There will be no funeral. The body will be cremated and the ashes spread at a later date with the whole family present.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting donations to the Abe Miller Centre.