Robert “Bob” Boeckner, longtime trustee of the General Synod Pension Plan (GSPP) and a highly valued member of several national church committees dealing with finance, died June 30 at the age of 83, just days after attending the pension committee meeting at General Synod.
An actuary in his professional career starting in 1963, Boeckner became a pension and benefit consultant in 1990 and retired in 2006. In 2011 he joined the board of trustees for the GSPP, which has more than 5,000 members in the Anglican Church of Canada including retired and active clergy as well as lay employees.
Boeckner chaired the board’s ESG (environment, social and governance) subcommittee, which aimed to make sure pension funds were invested in socially responsible ways; and was a member of the governance committee, a subcommittee of the GSPP’s board of trustees that deals with policies and procedures, and the GSPP expansion committee, formed to seek new members to join the plan. All pension trustees also serve on the General Synod pension committee.
In addition, Boeckner was a member of the Anglican Church of Canada’s Responsible Investing Task Force, formed in 2016. The mandate of the task force was to look into responsible investing practices for funds held by General Synod and the pension plan and to recommend changes if appropriate.
Rekha Menon, who has led the Anglican Pension Office Corporation as director of pensions since the start of 2023, first met Boeckner when she joined the GSPP board of trustees in August 2012 and came to regard him as a mentor.
Menon remembered Boeckner as a highly organized and punctual individual who never missed a meeting. If a meeting was hybrid, she said, he always attended in person rather than online.
“Every seven to 10 days we would have a conversation, and he was very engaged with the board,” Menon said. “His memory was as sharp as anything … He served on almost all our committees that we have and [was] very engaged and would remember facts.”
Menon said she was shocked and saddened by Boeckner’s death so soon after General Synod. She was with him on the day of the primatial election June 26. On June 28, Boeckner attended the first meeting of the new pension committee. Two days later, he was dead.
“He was very particular about serving the church and wanting to make sure that he provided as much as he can … Wherever he could contribute, he gave his time,” Menon said.
Simon Segall, who represented an investment firm retained by the GSPP trustees in 2014, got to know Boeckner better after Segall became a trustee in 2019.
“Bob was a great help to me when I first became a trustee,” Segall said. “He was more than happy to share his experience working as a trustee and with our fellow trustees, helping me to understand how to be a member of this very collegial group.”
Boeckner further helped Segall when the latter became chair of the expansion committee, a role Boeckner had previously held. “His feedback was most supportive, kind and enabling,” Segall said.
He praised Boeckner’s “smart and incisive intellect, which he wore easily [with] no ego”. Segall said his late fellow trustee always prioritized the financial health of the GSPP, whether in his role as chair of the central advisory group or during presentations from the plan’s investment managers, actuaries, or legal counsel.
“Bob was always himself—never any dissembling—you always knew you were dealing with a straight shooter,” Segall said. “He was not afraid to say what he thought and to do the right thing, regardless whether others agreed or not. He also never took offense if someone”—Segall offered himself as an example—“disagreed with him.”
Boeckner “was fully dedicated to every role he took on,” he added. “He thought deeply about every issue. And he made sure to attend meetings regardless of his health situation. Bob was always quick with a quip as well, something I always appreciated.”
Along with his work for General Synod, Boeckner joined Wycliffe College’s board of trustees as well as its audit and finance committee in 2023. He served as board treasurer and as a member of the college’s investment advisory group.
A July 9 statement from Wycliffe College called Boeckner “a valued member of the Wycliffe community”, noting, “Bob was very passionate about his work with the College. He brought a personal touch to that passion, often going out of his way to support senior staff charged with improving the College’s finances. He willingly gave time whenever needed and however it would best help the College.”
Carol Boettchler, chair of Wycliffe’s board of trustees, said, “Bob was a great board member and treasurer. He brought his curiosity, experience, and wisdom to all our work. He truly cared about Wycliffe College and will be sadly missed.”
A funeral service took place Aug. 13 at St. Clement’s Anglican Church in Toronto, where Boeckner served as a church warden.
