Robert Kirwan was born on May 28, 1950 to Tom and Audrey
Kirwan. He was the oldest of five children with two brothers, Frank and
Wayne, as well as two sisters, Carol and Janet.
For the first five years of his life, he lived in Coniston where his
father was employed with INCO.
Then, at the age of five, the family moved to Lively to be closer to
where his father worked at the Iron Ore Recovery Plant in Copper Cliff.
Robert went to Lively Public School #1 and then went on to graduate from
Grade 13 at Lively High School in June of 1969.
He attended Waterloo University for one year and then returned to
Laurentian University where he completed his three-year B.A. in Math and
Economics. Upon graduating in the spring of 1972, Robert married Valerie (Starcevic)
whom he had met while they were both in high school in 1968.
Robert and Valerie moved to North Bay immediately after their marriage
where they lived from July 1972 until June 1973 while Robert attended
Teachers' College at the Canadore College site. That was the first year
the new school was opened.
After graduating from Teachers' College, Robert accepted a position
with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board in September 1973 and
remained with the board until his retirement, 28 years later in June 2001.
Robert then formed a marketing company with his sons and currently
publishes Valley East Today, a Community Lifestyle Magazine and Community
Web Site. He also owns and operates a private practice called The Greater
Sudbury Learning Clinic, an education & career development
agency.
Robert and Valerie purchased a house in the spring of 1974 on Noel
Crescent in Val Therese and have
lived in that same house ever since.
They raised three sons, shown in the photo from the left: Warren (1977), Ryan (1975),
and Marty (1979).
All three went to St. Anne School in Hanmer, St. Charles College in
Sudbury, and then graduated from the School of Business and Commerce Program at Laurentian
University. Ryan, currently lives in Val Caron where he works as an
independent Mortgage Broker; Warren is an elementary school teacher in the
Simcoe District School Board near Barrie; and Marty is a police officer in
the canine division with the Peel Regional Police Department.
Robert and Valerie have four grand children: Hailee (6),
Hannah (4), and Cade (21 months) who live with their parents, Ryan and Angele (Rochette)
in Val Caron; and Keelan (19 months), living with his parents Marty and
Christina (Woodley) in Rockford, near Guelph.
