Robert, 102, Discusses Rural Life in 1920s Latvia with Free Thinker Silver

Much of what he said centred on agriculture and horse-drawn transport.

Robert is 102 years old. Born in Latvia in October, 1916, he studied mechanics and science as a young man. He joined the Latvian army during WW2 and escaped from the Soviets to Allied-control Germany in 1945. In a displaced person camp for two years, he met and married my grandmother, also a Latvian. They immigrated to England and lived there until 1958, during which time Robert worked as an engineer. Then the small family, including my mother, moved to Montreal, Canada in 1957. Nearly upon arrival, Robert got a job working for Red Path sugar as a mechanical engineer. He soon worked his way up the ranks to become manager of the refinery in Montreal and later in Toronto. After my mother's death in 2007, Robert returned to live in Latvia from 2008 until 2016, when he came back to Canada to live in a retirement home.