Tributes

1. Tony and I first met Rob (and Chris) during our very active bushwalking days with MUMC. Rob was one of those hardy souls who carried a large pack and always wore shorts! Hence we have known one another for about 60 years.
   Since that time we have visited and sometimes stayed overnight with Rob and Chris in Werribee(baby days), Yarralumla (young children) and Warrnambool (sans enfants). They were always most friendly and accommodating hosts. Tony, especially, enjoyed Rob’s lively chats about mathematical intrigues, computers and the like.
   From chasing the kids around the timber playground ramps in Canberra and helping lay pavers in the backyard, to walking the sea cliffs, Tower Hill and the Merri Creek – these were fun times indeed (if only Tony could remember them too!)
   Rest in peace, Rob and may your loved ones cherish fond memories of a life well lived.

   Cath Kerr December 31, 2025

2. Rob me a possible for me to attend walks in Warrnambool as a recent returned member of the community from Sydney. I am so grateful for his inclusiveness and eagerness to be present for conversation. I will miss him and I’m so glad that I got to know him a little.

   Spirit Wolf December 27, 2025

3. Rob Cannon – My Memories

   Rob had many friends who had known him for years, but I probably knew him longest. We met in 1st grade, in 1953, and I remember making rivulets together, fed by water from a tap in our back garden and building dams and canals down a conveniently located slope. For the rest of our school life “Boom” and I continued to be close, two numerate boys doing German, which meant we were usually in the same class. We were both in the scouts and then we were both active in the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club, where we teamed up with good friends Chris and Joan.

   Rob’s father died early, and Rob took responsibility for looking after his mother and his younger sister, so when Chris’ mother advised her to check how Rob treated his mother he passed with flying colours. Joan and I were the witnesses at Rob and Chris’ wedding and then Joan and I married and we have been been in close touch ever since. When, near the end of his career, Rob needed a reference from someone who knew him well, he was tickled that he could provide one from someone who had known him for nearly 60 years.

   I have so many memories of Rob, but one stands out. About 30 years ago structural design was altered to be based on a statistical assessment of loads and strength assuming normal distributions. I rang Rob, my occasional adviser on statistics and asked how to analyse normal distributions, to which he replied “how do you know that these distributions are normal”? A very good question, because it went to the heart of a fundamental problem with the whole approach being used for structural design.

   Rob was a good friend to me over many decades. He was always reliable and always friendly, usually with his trade mark cheeky grin. I’ll miss him.

   Peter Selby Smith

   Peter Selby Smith December 27, 2025