Remembering Bob and Vi Lane

St. James

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/03/2025 (383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Violet (Vi) Cabel and Robert Edward (Bob ) Lane were married on Nov. 4, 1950, in St. Alban’s Anglican Church. Vi was born on April 29, 1928, to Mary and Alexander Cabel, and she grew up on Beresford Avenue in Fort Rouge. Robert Edward (Bob) Lane was born on Nov. 29, 1927, to Robert George and Marjorie Lane. During their 70-year marriage, Bob and Vi contributed to the community in many ways.

Between 1946 and 1949, Bob lived in various parts of Canada as a member of the Royal Canadian Navy. He later became a member of the St. James branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. Bob and Vi started their life as a married couple living in Medicine Hat, Alta., and later Saskatoon, Sask. In Medicine Hat ,Vi worked as a copy editor and wrote commercials for a radio station. By the middle 1950s, the Lanes were back in Winnipeg where their lived over the years on Palmerston Avenue, Golden Gate Bay, Overdale Street and in the Courts of St. James.

In the mid-1950s, Bob opened a one-man realty and general insurance office, Lane & Haliburton Ltd. The office moved over the years to several different St. James locations. During his 40-year career in real estate, Bob served as president of the Winnipeg and Manitoba Real Estate Boards. He was also a director of the Canadian Real Estate Board.

Bob and Vi volunteered in countless political campaigns. During the 1965 federal election campaign, the Lanes hosted a campaign tea for PC candidate Gordon Churchill in their home on Golden Gate Bay. Churchill had been a neighbour of the Lanes on Palmerston Avenue.

On Jan. 23, 1978, Bob took the plunge into federal politics, winning the nomination to be the Progressive Conservative candidate in the Winnipeg–St. James riding which, at the time, was bordered by Sherbrook Street on the east and Sturgeon Road on the West. The expected 1978 federal election was delayed until May 22, 1979, and Bob defeated J. Frank Syms of the NDP by 900 votes.

After the minority government of Joe Clark was defeated, another election was held on Feb. 18, 1980, and Bob was defeated by Cyril Keeper of the NDP by about 400 votes. He challenged for the 1984 PC nomination but lost out to George Minaker.

The Lanes were members of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church. Bob sang in the choir for 60 years and was instrumental in organizing the men’s church breakfast. Vi was a member of the altar guild.

Bob was a Khartum Shriner and personally delivered the burns education program to schoolchildren in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. He was also a regular volunteer at the annual Shrine Circus, and Vi was a member of the Daughters of the Nile.

Bob was honoured with the Canada 125 Governor General’s medal in 1992 and the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal.

Vi died on Feb. 23, 2021, and Bob passed away on Jan. 13, 2025. They are survived by their children Sandra, Cathy, Rob, and Janice and their families.