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Bob Pedler, Aug. 26, 1930 — May 18, 2023
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A local real estate icon whose company continues to carry his name has died at the age of 93.
Bob Pedler had remained in good health but died Thursday following complications after emergency digestion-related surgery.
Pedler leaves behind a legacy of being one of the Windsor area’s real estate industry leaders. He carried the nickname “Mr. South Windsor” for his role in leading the development of numerous subdivisions constructed in that part of the city through the 1970s and 1980s.
He was founder and president of Bob Pedler Real Estate Ltd., which he began as a company in 1969.
“I have spent my whole career there,” said real estate broker Anna Vozza, who worked for Pedler for the last 25 years. “He was a mentor and leader. He was very big on building relationships.
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“He was very family-oriented. That’s the biggest part of who he was. I often feel like more a daughter than just an agent.”
Pedler’s two sons Greig and Dave, who have long worked in the business, will continue overseeing the company. He was predeceased by his wife Joan and survived by another son Scott, several grandchildren and another extended family.
Very community-oriented, Pedler was founding chairman of both the Lancaster Fundraising Committee to restore the Lancaster bomber, and Windsor Crime Stoppers. He was also a member of the Canadian Historical Railroad Association and played a vital role with the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, serving as president twice, in 1978 and 1979.
He received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his community service in 2013.
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“This community was very big for him,” Vozza said. “He always felt he had to give back because this community helped to give him such a wonderful living doing what he loved to do.”
In real estate, Pedler held positions at every level, serving at different times as president of the Canadian Real Estate Association, the Ontario Real Estate Association and Windsor-Essex County Real Estate Board.
Vozza said she would remember Pedler for his love of Italian food and always being first in the office every day.
“Everybody is really going to miss him,” she said, “He was like a father to everybody. He had such great knowledge (about real estate).
“He always saw and predicted everything before it was going to happen. The automotive industry and its ups and downs, the recession and building back up.
“He always predicted everything and talked to people how to prepare for it. A lot of my success is through his direction and I’m sure for many other agents in the office, as well.”
Visitation for Pedler is scheduled for Tuesday from 2 to 5 pm and 7 to 9 pm, as well as Wednesday from 9 to 10 am, at Families First funeral home, 3260 Dougall Ave. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday at 10 am
