Robert Charles Long
Section 10, Lot 1449
Pine Hills Cemetery
Born in Toronto, Charles Long attended Scarborough Collegiate Institute (R. H. King Collegiate Institute), and then went on to study in theology at the Toronto Bible College in 1947. Graduating in 1950, Long then spent a year as a missionary pastor for the Shantymen Christian Association, a mission outreach program for people working in remote locations across northern Canada. In 1951, he joined the Africa Evangelical Fellowship and was sent to Nyasaland, now Malawi, in south-eastern Africa. He met and married his wife there, and they continued their mission work in Africa until 1962. For the next 16 years, Reverend Long served various communities across Ontario, until forced to resign due to declining health while serving in London in 1978. He moved to Toronto where he was Bible teacher at Dorset Park Baptist Church. Having become interested in birds as a child, while still in high school long wrote a regular column on ornithology for a local newspaper. His growing expertise led to an association with the ornithology department of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). While in Africa, Long built up an extensive collection of African birds, parts of which he later donated to the Zimbabwe Museum, the British Museum, and ROM. He accepted a post as a museum research associate in 1965. Following a lengthy illness, Revered Long died at his home on April 1, 1986. He was 58 years old.