Robert Won (1939-1998)
Bob Won was an unpretentious person, who just epitomizes how "nice guys finish first" - a person from very humble beginnings who worked hard and earned respect within the community, who loved people and had a wonderful family life.
He was born in Cranbrook on August 12, 1939, the son of a Chinese immigrant market gardener, and worked in the family business as a youngster. He was a bright student, an excellent athlete and was well liked by his peers in school. He played basketball, baseball, was an excellent boxer and participated in track and field. When Bob graduated from high school, he worked at a lumber mill and later on a CPR crew to save money for university. He entered the University of British Columbia to study geology in 1960 but without enough funds, he returned home to work. He resumed his studies the following year.
Upon graduation from UBC in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Honours Geophysics, Bob was hired by Chevron in Bakersfield, California. He returned to Calgary and worked for ARCO, where he met and married Karen in 1974. Bob worked for several oil companies over his career (Petro Canada, Francana, Sceptre and Canada Northwest Energy) and he was a Chief Geophysicist. His last employer was Canor Energy, where he was well respected for both his professional ability and his personal attributes. Bob was a careful, smart professional geophysicist and was known for his ability to maintain an "even keel" through all situations.
Socially, Bob and Karen supported and participated in many of the CSEG functions. Bob was an accomplished curler, golfer and skier, winning many awards and trophies at the CSEG Doodlespiels, Doodlebugs, and Ski Sprees. Bob was very competitive in sports but never let the desire to win outshadow the need to be a good sport and a friendly competitor.
He always tried to treat people the way that he would want to be treated. Well, he surely did a good job of that as the tributes to Bob were overwhelming.
