Obituary
Robena Weatherley (nee Robinson) was born August 25, 1930 in the family farmhouse in Cambridge-Narrows, New Brunswick, on Washademoak Lake, to Victor Robinson and Helen Robinson (nee Chapman).
She was brought up in the Depression, so was always thrifty with her resources. She attended a rural school until grade 11, and went to a larger school in Coles Island for Grade 12. She matriculated in 1945.
She then taught school for one term in the high school graduate program. After attending the new Teachers' College, she taught for one year in a rural school at Burton, NB. During that year, she sometimes went to the University of New Brunswick when she visited her cousin Betty Robinson, and learned that she wanted to attend university herself.
She went to UNB in 1948, taking courses in science. She thought UNB was wonderful. It was financially difficult for her. She worked at several part-times jobs in labs, where she met Marjorie Logue, who became a great friend and mentor. Another friend was Lorne Howitt, a professor, from whom she learned that the university was opening a new forestry lab in the summer of 1949.
She started work in that lab together with two people who subsequently became lifelong friends, Kay Cronin and Ray Newell. She spent six years there, and loved the work. Mr. Howitt taught her everything she needed to know as she set up his labs. She was sent to Ottawa for training in the second year, where she learned the techniques of identifying fungus cultures.
During 1954 Trudy Pentland, a student from University of British Columbia, 18 years old at the time, came to work for Robena. They got on famously and became lifelong friends. Robena went to UBC in 1956. At UBC, Dr. Bier was the director of the forest pathology group. He sent Robena to Ottawa for a few months of intensive training with Dr. Nobles, the expert in this field.
In 1957 Robena earned her UBC BA in Botany and Science (with forestry), and decided to then do an MSc degree. After the coursework was over, Robena was given a Research Officer position in Calgary. She started her own field program on bluestain in lodgepole pine, which is associated with beetle infestation. It was soon apparent to her that the beetles were not what killed the trees - rather the beetles were vectors for fungi, which they later identified. She spent five summers at Invermere doing field work. She obtained her MSc in Botany and Science in spring 1960.
In 1959 Robena had met Walt Jeffrey at a party for the local forestry groups. They were married December 30, 1961.
She moved to Fort Collins, Colorado so Walt could do a PhD in Forest Hydrology. In Fort Collins Robena worked with Ross Davidson, whom she had met at meetings such as the Western International forest disease conference. They were very productive. They had been working on the same groups of fungi. But Robena was ahead of Ross because she had found the perfect (fruiting) stage and he had not.
Robena's daughter Lisa was born in Fort Collins in 1965. In 1966 Walt accepted a job at UBC as Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry. Walt died in August 1969 in a helicopter crash when he was on a professional trip to Fort Liard in the Northwest Territories.
Robena then worked at UBC as a sessional lecturer in the Department of Botany. She met Alan Weatherley in February 1972 at a friend's house. Alan was visiting UBC from Australia for six months. Alan and Robena were married in December 1973. Then they moved to Tromso, Norway (at 70 degrees north), where Alan had a position at the University of Tromso.
In 1975 Alan accepted a position as Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
In 1979 Robena developed breast cancer. Following a year of chemotherapy, the cancer never recurred.
After this, Robena worked hard for Science For Peace, and was particularly involved with the organization of the Arctic Conference (Toronto, 1988). Later she worked on conservation, and won many awards for this work, including the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal (2023).
Robena and Alan moved back to New Brunswick after Alan retired in 1993. They lived in the Robinson family farmhouse from 1995 until Alan passed away in 2012, continuing their conservation work. In 2018 Robena purchased a condo in Toronto across the hall from where Lisa and her husband and daughter lived. She then spent summers in New Brunswick and winters in Toronto.
In January 2026 Robena suffered a haemorrhagic stroke. With the assistance of nursing care she was able to return home, but subsequently she developed heart failure with difficulty breathing. She passed away at Toronto General hospital on March 27.
In her last days, Robena told many people that she had had a long, interesting and fulfilling life. She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Jeffrey, son-in-law Radford Neal, granddaughter Eleanor Neal, and many other well-loved family and friends.
