A Crossfield senior was recently honoured by his family with a commemorative plaque on a local Crossfield bench.
Bob Romman, a Crossfield resident since 1979, unveiled the plaque as a tribute to his 90th birthday during an intimate and informal family ceremony on March 12, according to his daughter Cindy Gale.
Gale said when her dad turned 90 at the end of January, family and friends were unable to host a big party or gathering in honour of the milestone due to COVID-19 public health restrictions. They decided to put their heads together to brainstorm ideas, and came up with an alternative way to celebrate the 90-year-old’s birthday.
“Dad’s not a big party person as it is, but we thought, ‘What could we do significant to represent 90 [years]?’” she said. “We collected 90 memories for 90 years from friends, relatives, and former customers, but as we were doing that, we realized how much dad had done for the community.
“We thought, ‘Well, what about a plaque? Why does somebody have to [pass away] to get a plaque?’”
Soon after, they discovered Crossfield had several benches without plaques, so they inquired with the Town of Crossfield if they could make it official.
Gale said the location of the bench – in front of the Crossfield and District Community Hall – seemed fitting, as Romman often volunteered at events held there and in the surrounding area.
“This one was appropriate in that dad volunteered for the Lions Club since [approximately] 1980,” she said. “He did many functions, worked behind the bar, catered events, organized funny money casinos.”
Alongside his role as a member and president of the Lions Club and his local volunteer efforts with Citizens on Patrol, Gale said her father was the owner and operator of Crossfield Garage for many years, and was well known in the community.
She added to this day, he still helps at the garage by keeping the car wash spick and span.
“He goes down and checks on it and hoses the bay down – it gives him a purpose,” she said. “A purpose to get up every day and check on [the] car wash.”
She added her dad also helps out as a fixer-upper handyman at Crossfield's Rocky View Lodge senior’s home, where he is a tenant.
“Many there forget he lives there and isn’t an employee,” she said with a laugh. “He continues to be involved in the community to this day.”
In addition to his community volunteerism, Romman was also as a husband of 68 years to his wife Elizabeth “Betty” Romman, who passed away last September. The two shared six children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
“There’s six of us and obviously providing for a family of six was probably not the easiest thing to do over the years,” Gale said.
In attendance at the unveiling of the plaque were Romman’s children and their spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, according to Gale.
“My dad’s not a man of many words – he doesn’t really let you know his deep feelings that way – but he liked it and said thank you, and then we went for lunch down at Shorty’s [diner], which is where his shop used to be, so that was kind of neat to do as well,” she said.
Though it wasn’t a big production, Cindy said her father was humbled by the gesture.
“All that he’s done for us, all he’s done for the community – there's not many people in Crossfield that if you mentioned Bob Romman, they wouldn’t know who you were talking about. It's kind of a legacy,” she said.
“It’s hard to put into words what your parents mean to you and to try and do it within the size of a plaque."
