From a Dutch Boy press release: As many of you already know, John Robins passed away on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005, at the critical care unit at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario. Robins had been hospitalized there for the last 3 weeks following emergency surgery. This would have been John's 50th year in the drum corps activity. He started as a marching member of the 48th Field Squadron in Kitchener back in 1955, and was a major force in the activity from that point on. Over the years he served as president, vice president, director, corps director, show designer, staff coordinator and drill instructor for several corps, including the Flying Dutchmen senior and junior drum corps, the Northstar from Kitchener-Waterloo, the Dutch Boy Cadets and the Dutch Boy. In addition to his involvement with these corps he was also instrumental in the formation of other area groups including St. Andrews of Cambridge, the Kiwanis Kavaliers and The Ventures. Robins was a past president of both the Ontario and the Canadian drum and bugle corps associations, and was the current vice president of the Northstar Youth Organization, the group that oversees the funding for Dutch Boy. Dutch Boy and the NorthStar Youth Organization extend our sincere condolences to John's family. We also want to thank them for sharing John with his "other family" -- his "drum corps family." We will never forget his friendship and unique style. He was truly a man that legends are made of. Funeral arrangements are as follows: Schreiter-Sandrock Funeral Home and Chapel, 51 Benton Street at Church Street in Kitchener on Friday Feb. 25, 2005, from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Funeral service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005, at 2 p.m. at St. Matthews Lutheran Church, 54 Benton Street, in Kitchener. Interment will be at Memory Gardens Breslau. Family and friends are welcome to come to a reception to celebrate John's life at Sol-Mar Banquet Hall, 248 Stirling Avenue South, in Kitchener at the corner of Stirling Avenue and Courtland Avenue. Donations in memory of John can be made to the Northstar Youth Organization, Grand River Hospital, or the charity of your choice, and will be appreciated by the family. Online condolences can be emailed to the family at schreitersandrockfh@alderwoods.com.