Robert was born on December 18, 1920 in Edinburgh, Scotland to William Wales and Catherine Brown Wales.  He was the sixth of ten children.  In 1921 Catherine sailed to Canada with the five older children and one-year-old Robert to reunite with William who had immigrated earlier. The family settled in Cassidy, later moving to Vancouver in 1934.

Robert was never fond of his name, and in early adulthood he decided to adopt the nickname Scotty. He was proud of his Scottish heritage and his Scotch traits and so he felt that the name suited him. He became known as Scotty to almost everyone, though family members continued to call him Robert or Bob. Scotty was a likeable, hard-working and innovative young man with a contagious laugh and the gift of gab and he was a friend to all. These qualities would to serve him well throughout his life.

As was typical in depression times, Scotty quit school at a young age to go to work and help support the family. He and his older brother Alex became clever partners, always looking for ways to make money.   In those early years they learned many valuable lessons that would influence their thinking later in life. Alex, six years Scotty’s senior, was his mentor and best friend.

Shortly after the family moved to Vancouver, Scotty went to work for White Pine lumber mill. This was to be short-lived because Scotty soon discovered he had asthma, was allergic to cedar, and had to quit the job. His asthma prevented him from enlisting when the war broke out.

Alex invited Scotty to move in with him and Glady, his wife, so that Scotty would be able to save some money. Eventually Scotty and his future wife, June Ross Smith were able to buy property on East 36th Street in Vancouver, close to Alex and Glady’s house. With his brother’s help Scotty was able to build their first home. With the house completed and a place to live, it was finally time for Scotty and June to marry.  They had met in 1939 and were married on July 28, 1945 and lived in the house on 36th Street for many years. On June 15, 1949 a son, Gary Ross, joined the family followed by a daughter, Dawn Marie, on December 25, 1952.

After he had to quit the job at White Pine, Scotty went to work for Crone Storage driving a truck, even though he did not yet have a driver’s license.  He eventually started hauling furniture across Canada causing him to spend long periods of time away from his young family. On one of these trips Scotty had a serious accident with the Crone Storage truck, almost taking his life.

As one of their many money-making projects, Scotty and Alex built homes together in their spare time. In 1950 they bought a building lot in Boundary Bay and began building a summer cottage for their own use using salvaged materials. Both families, with six children in total, spent summers while the kids were growing up at the small duplex which came to be known as “Camp” with Scotty and June’s side as Do Drop In and Alex and Glady’s side as Do Drop Over. The two families and many friends had great times there and have cherished memories of the years in Boundary Bay.

From 1953 to 1956 Scotty, Alex and another partner bought a mobile mill which they operated in Bridge River area. Scotty spent most of his time there and the family would join him for two months in the summer. It was not an easy life and after three years Scotty decided to go back to work for Crone Storage.

Unhappy with again being away from his family, in 1958 Scotty bought a truck and trucking contract to deliver tires to Dunlop stores in Vancouver. To make more money he used his truck and his furniture moving skills to move local families on weekends. Soon he had two trucks and an employee.

Life was improving for the Wales family but Scotty, an inventor and salesman by nature, continued to look for business opportunities. He noticed that the Dunlop stores he delivered tires to needed a way to store large volumes of tires in a better way. He came up with a design for a metal tire rack, manufactured them in his garage in his spare time, and sold the tire racks to all the stores he made deliveries to. The Dunlop manager was so impressed with Scotty’s ambition and creative way of solving problems that he offered him a job as foreman of the retread plant, later promoting him to plant manager. Scotty accepted the job on the condition that he could keep his delivery contract and continued using his trucks with hired drivers to deliver tires while he worked at the plant.

On March 31, 1971 Scotty had a disagreement over the future ownership of the Dunlop retread plant which he had expected to be part of and he decided to leave. The next day,  April 1, 1971 R Wales & Son Industrial Rubber Rebuilding was born and the rest is history.

With a successful business and financial security, in 1989 Scotty and June were able to build their dream home on the water in Boundary Bay, not far from the original 1950 camp. In 2006 June went blind, causing both Scotty and June to retire from working at R Wales & Son.  Scotty and June continued to live together in their Boundary Bay home with their caregivers (Scotty’s angels), Gemma, Marilou, Michelle, and Jennette until December 31, 2011 when Scotty peacefully passed away with his family and beloved angels by his side.

June continues to live with Scotty’s angels in the Boundary Bay home she loves.

Scotty's Obituary

Robert (Scotty) Young Wales, 1920-2011. Scotty passed away peacefully at home at 6:00 AM on December 31st, 2011 at 91 years of age. He was a wonderful husband, dad, grandpa, great grandpa, brother, uncle and friend to all whose laughter and love will be greatly missed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Society of Canada. In respect of Scotty's wishes, no memorial service will be held.

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