Bob McDonnell

I had just moved to the Bahamas. We live on Paradise Island across the harbour from Nassau. Cabbage Beach is almost in my backyard. I swim there almost every day.

Shortly after we had moved, we were on Cabbage Beach and a group of people were watching something in the water at the exposed coral reef at the end of Cabbage Beach. A girl shouted out to me "Do you want to see a shark?". A little sand shark had been caught in a tidal pool.

I started a conversation with the man in the group. The conversation went something like this:

Where are you from?

Canada.

So am I. What part of Canada?

Ontario.

So am I. Where in Ontario?

Oshawa.

So am I. Where did you go to school?

OCHS.

So did I!

It was Bob McDonnell. He had been a year ahead of my in my brother's class at OCHS, and now we were living here in the Bahamas. Bob was doing a teaching stint at the prestigious St. Andrew's School, teaching biology. Bob's sister Loretta was in my class.

For an entire year until Bob left at the end of the school year, I would continuously run into Bob at the beach. I would round the corner and there Bob would be, either alone or with his daughter Jess, or friends who came to the Bahamas to see him. It didn't matter whether it was Jaws Beach or Cabbage Beach. And he would always pull out an ice cold beer from his backpack for me. Also we both volunteered at the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament at the Ocean Club golf course.

It is now Easter time, and last Easter, Bob's family came to the tropics to visit. We had Easter dinner with his family at our house on Paradise Island. My daughter Becky spent a week with Jess, and for months afterwards, carload of kids (Jess and friends) would honk at me on East Bay Street and shout "Hello Becky's Dad!".

I miss rounding the corner on Cabbage Beach not seeing Bob's stuff under the palm tree, and Bob off somewhere on Snorkeller's Reef.

I've have been reading the Dwyer Forums and Bob seems to have been a popular teacher with the students as well.

The above pic is a much younger Bob when he was a student at OCHS.

Below, is Bob's palm tree (left of center) on Cabbage Beach where he regularly used to hang out.