OTTAWA — Bob Mowat, the man who helped pioneer plastics in farming and co-owner of Farmers Sealed Storage in Kemptville, died last month. He was 71.

Bob grew up on a dairy farm and lived in the family’s original farmhouse in Ottawa’s Nepean until only four years ago. He was still working last November when he began to feel weak and tired. He was admitted to hospital November 25 thinking he had a bladder infection. He died three weeks later on Dec. 13. He had cancer of the bladder.

"He never got out of hospital," said his partner Randy Lavier. "In 25 years I never knew anyone who had a bad word to say about him and he never had a bad word to say about anyone. You can’t find anyone in the country who won’t say he was absolutely the best."

Lavier and Mowat pioneered the idea of plastic storage products in farming, such as bale wraps and feed storage bags. "It took at least 12 years to be accepted," Lavier said. "Now it’s everywhere."

Mowat, who liked wearing an Australian wide-brim hat, had a personality that made him well-known. He liked to meet people. A cousin recalled they went on a cruise and after a few days on the ship many of the crew passed by saying, "Hi, Bob."

He treated customers as neighbours, often loaning out equipment to customers in need.

"In serious discussions I called him Robert," recalled Lavier, with a chuckle. "He called me Randall at that time. We never had an argument."

Mowat sold much of the original farmland he grew up on to a man named Barr. The area is crammed with housing today and is called Barrhaven, in Nepean, Ottawa’s south west. He has three brothers, including Bill, who runs Momac Elevators, in Nepean.