Local businessman passes
Chantelle Deacon - Oct 17, 2017 - Biz Releases

Image: Elliott Row Facebook page

Don Robertson will be remembered as an avid community member, amazing father and loving husband, after losing his 18-year battle to cancer over the weekend.

After moving to the Okanagan in 1992 with his wife Lori, Robertson opened Elliott Row Men’s Wear in West Kelowna.  Robertson later moved the shop to Penticton in 1995, where the company has thrived ever since.

Robertson was heavily involved with the Penticton Vees and will never be forgotten by anyone who was lucky enough to meet him, according to Ken Huber general manager, Huber Bannister Chevrolet.

“I met him in 1995 when he first opened up his business and I got to be a good customer of his,” Huber said. “We spent lots of time together having a great time with his family, his wife and his two boys.”

Four years after moving his store to Penticton, Robertson was diagnosed with GIST (gastrointestinal stromal tumors) cancer. From 1999 to 2014 Robertson spent every second enjoying life with his family, despite undergoing multiple chemotherapy treatments, radiation and 10 surgeries.

Doctor’s told Robertson in 2014 his medication was no longer working, but his positivity and determination to fight never diminished.

In June of 2016 he was told he had only six months to a year left to live, but Robertson still broke all odds by making it through to the summer of 2017 with joy and happiness, according to the Elliott Row Men’s Wear Facebook page.

“He is just a really positive guy even through his ordeal with cancer, he is just an amazing guy,” Huber said. “It didn’t seem to phase him, he lived with it but he never complained, he just forged on and kept a positive attitude at all times.”

“He was full of life, he was out there in the community all the time, no matter where he was, he was the main attraction and made everybody feel comfortable, he was a very fun guy.”

A funeral will be held on Oct. 23, 4 p.m., at Springfield Funeral Home in Kelowna.


All Biz Releases Stories