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‘He was always there’: Memorial honours Salmon Arm steadfast friend to people living rough and others

Man dies five days after being struck by vehicle in what police called an altercation over a debt
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Rob Konkle’s cousin Cynthia Dubie and a friend of Rob’s pose with a photo of him at his memorial held on April 1, 2023 in Salmon Arm. (Martha Wickett-Salmon Arm Observer)

“Making everybody’s day, really. That’s what he would do most of the time.”

That was how Seth Cowan described what his good friend Rob (Red) Konkle was best-known for. Cowan’s sentiment, and variations of it, were expressed by all those who spoke at Konkle’s memorial in Salmon Arm on April 1.

About 50 people showed up at the site of the outdoor Food with Friends lunches behind the Crossroads Free Methodist Church for a pizza lunch – reportedly one of Rob’s favourites – and to share their thoughts and feelings about their friend.

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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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