Alexander Ernest Hobson
November 9, 1932 - March 16, 2020
He hunched over the tilted drafting table, paint brush in his right hand, cigarette in his left. In the days before computers automated his craft, he would summon the letters, any font, any style, painted with precision and passion. He created letters for logos, for book covers, for magazines and packaging. And always the cigarette, focusing him, pushing him, keeping him company.
Before retiring, he worked to share his knowledge and passion with the next generation, teaching graphic design and typography at George Brown College. Away from the drafting table he was compelled to apply his ingenuity to countless projects, from the useful to the decidedly whimsical - he couldn’t help himself. He had to create.
And boy did he love to live! Alex truly appreciated his 50-year partnership with his wife Willow - raising their family together, exploring the world, sharing the crossword (sometimes not willingly!). He was fiercely proud of his children and grandchildren, and charismatic with friends, always a story at the ready. He could be a virtuoso air pianist, passionately playing along to the trills of Ella, Frank and Count Basie. In the end, it wasn’t the cigarettes that got him (he quit 20 years ago), it was the sun and skin cancer, no doubt from the hours he enjoyed outdoors golfing and gardening.
Alex was born in Toronto and lived most of his life within a couple of hours of the city. He is survived by his loving wife Willow, his four children Julie (Donna), Valerie (David), Chris (Krista) and Jason (Terri), and eight delightful grandchildren. In lieu of flowers a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated. Leave a message with this website if you wish to be informed about a future “Celebration of Life.”