CORNER BROOK — The first and only Newfoundlander to have held the position of executive director of the International Grenfell Association has died. Dr. Peter Job Roberts, brother of former lieutenant governor of Newfoundland and Labrador, Ed Roberts, died Tuesday at the age of 63. A man blessed with a wide range of talents and skills, Dr. Roberts’ defining passions were being a medical doctor and being a Newfoundlander. In fact, the medical profession was prominent throughout his family; his father, Dr. Harry Roberts, his only uncle and most of their siblings and cousins had become doctors and nurses. Ed Roberts said his brother could have easily taken a position in comfortable surroundings of St. John’s, where their father was a well-known physician, but he was drawn to a more demanding practice in northern Newfoundland and Labrador. “He was a doctor for all the right reasons and in all the right ways,” said Roberts. “He became a doctor because he wanted to help people and he wanted to go north. He spent a couple of summers during medical school in St. Anthony. When he graduated and got his licence to practice, he went north again to St. Anthony and then to Roddickton.” That was the first time a doctor had set up practice in the region, outside of St. Anthony, in about 50 years. For three or four years, he was the only doctor between Main Brook and Harbour Deep. Serving his entire professional career on the Northern Peninsula, Dr. Roberts eventually became the executive director of the International Grenfell Association, and latterly of Grenfell Regional Health Services, and thus responsible for the provision of health care for many thousands of his fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. His obituary states: “those who know the Northern Peninsula and coastal Labrador are quick to give testimony to his achievements, as a doctor, as a leader and as a friend.” Dr. Roberts, who was forced to give up his practice due to medical reasons about 10 years ago, also went on to serve as president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association and was the founding chairperson of the Community Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. The foundation is a registered charity whose goal is to help people from all walks of life support the causes they feel are priorities in their communities and their province. To achieve this goal, the foundation pools and invests the gifts of many donors to create permanent endowment funds for communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The late doctor was also renowned for his many skills and talents outside his medical career. In the 1970s, while practising in St. Anthony, he spent his evenings at the local trades college studying welding, carpentry and sail-making. He used those skills to build his 45-foot, steel-hulled brigantine, aptly named the Down North, which he sailed joyfully in the northern waters. The ship still sails today. A skilled painter and printmaker, he took great pleasure in recording the coastal scenery of Newfoundland and Labrador. He also taught himself to play the guitar. An enthusiastic golfer, who took the good and the bad shots as they came, he also played in goal for the Prince of Wales College hockey team. One of the highlights of his hockey career came when he was knocked unconscious while playing — though not as a goalie — in a rough-and-ready game in the Roddickton-Englee-Conche-Main Brook league. As he lay on the ice, someone cried out for someone to get the doctor before realizing Dr. Roberts was the only physician for hundreds of miles either side of the outdoor rink. Fortunately, Dr. Roberts recovered quickly, with no ill effects. Dr. Roberts is survived by his wife, Betty Badcock. His remains have been cremated and a service to celebrate his life will be held at Gower Street United Church in St. John’s at 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.