John Llewelyn Robinson

John Llewelyn Robinson, father of the Internet in Canada, passed away on August 24, 2025.

John was quiet and introspective, always with an active intellect. A man of few words. Never one for small talk, he enjoyed quiet time on his bike or in a canoe, deep philosophical conversations, prime numbers, and above all else, time with his family. Born in Toronto in 1947 to Welsh mother Morfyyd Jones and English father Leslie Robinson, John was one of five children – sisters Cathy and Wendy and brothers Michael and Peter. When John was 5 his family moved to Peterborough, where he went on to excel at school in both academics and sports, including being the quarterback on his high school football team when they won the Ontario championships. John chose an academic path, completing a PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics, mostly at Western with a short stint at the University of Toronto.

He found his place as a family man in his early twenties, marrying his first wife Sandra and welcoming his first two daughters Maija-lisa and Katlin. In 1975 he fell in love with his current wife Jacqueline, and they began their life together, marrying in 1981 and welcoming two more daughters – Nicole and Zoë. As a father of four daughters, John was thrilled to welcome some men into his family life: sons in law Kyle (Maija-lisa), Andy (Katlin), Caelen (Nicole) and Kevin (Zoë). His family continued to grow with the addition of six grandchildren: Laila (Maija-lisa,) Ella (Katlin), Jack and Quinn (Nicole) and Niah and Mason (Zoë) who all miss their Grampy deeply.

After completing his PhD, John won a post doctoral fellowship at the Communications Research Centre (CRC) in Ottawa. While working on that fellowship, he was assigned the task of linking CRC to the ARPANET, a US military platform, a task which would lead to a key role in a critical advancement in computer communications. In 1985, he received the first email to come to Canada, and the Internet was born. A May 12, 2005 article in the Ottawa Citizen about the 20th anniversary of this incredible advancement called John “the midwife at the birth of the internet in Canada”. John continued his work in computer communications throughout his career, including spending 9 years working at SHAPE Technical Centre, a NATO think tank in the Hague, Netherlands. John was always very modest about his professional accomplishments and one had to dig deep and ask specific questions to get him to talk about them.

In 2012 John had a massive stroke which ended his days of communications research, canoe camping and cycling. However after a year long hospital stay, he was able to move back home and with private physio (thank you Elly Bruner) and the love and devotion of his family, he lived another 12 years: a second chance at life. He valiantly fought to overcome his physical and neurological limitations and was able to experience many more milestones and precious moments with his family including walking his two youngest daughters down the aisle, and witnessing his grandchildren grow and thrive by playing with their wheelchair-bound Grampy.

John passed away on August 24 after suffering a second massive stroke. He was 77, which is not a prime number, but still a number we think he would have liked.

A Celebration of Life will be held October 18, from 2 to 4pm at the Barley Mow, 399 Richmond Road, in Ottawa.