“To you alone, O Lord, to you alone, and not to us, must glory be given because of your constant love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1

With deep sadness we announce the passing of our much-loved husband, brother, father, father-in-law and grandfather on February 2nd, at the age of 78. He is survived by his wife Ria, and his sons Sam and his wife Liz and their two sons Micah and Isaac, and Peter and his wife Hannah and their two sons, Jasper and Toby.

Robert was born on July 31st, 1946 in Neunkirch, Switzerland to Wilhelm Hedinger and Ruth Pfister as the oldest of six siblings. He followed in his father’s footsteps by learning a trade in upholstery, carpets, flooring and curtains. He worked in this trade for several years until he felt the Lord calling him into mission. He trained with Wycliffe Bible Translators and was seconded to serve in Cameroon with SIL International.

He arrived in Cameroon in 1973. While working there, Robert met Sylvia Hales-Lovell from the UK and they married in 1974. They served as linguistic researchers and translation advisers among the Bakossi-speaking people in western Cameroon. They had three sons, Sam (1976), Peter (1978) and Jonathan (1980-1981). In 1984, Robert received his PhD from the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), London. He published at least 49 technical articles and helped numerous linguists in their research. In 1994, Robert lost Sylvia to non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Robert continued his work with Wycliffe in Cameroon and the UK.

In 1997, Robert married Ria Schaap from the Netherlands and they returned to Cameroon where he continued to serve as a linguistics consultant.

Robert was very pleased to see a project restart in 2001 to translate the New Testament into the Bakossi language, after many ups and downs. He supported the team until the New Testament was dedicated in 2011. In more recent years, Robert assisted many other linguistic researchers in developing and publishing dictionaries in many different languages of Cameroon. These efforts provided an enormous contribution to the histories and lives of these communities.

In recent years, Robert suffered from a number of health challenges, including heart problems that required a quadruple bypass operation. In 2022, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Despite these challenges, Robert never lost his love of walking and his appreciation for the beauty of nature, especially birds.

A thanksgiving service for his life will be held on Monday, March 3rd at 2.30pm at Emmanuel Chapel, Branch Community Church, Satchfield Crescent, Bristol, BS10 7BN. Dress code: come as you are.  Live-streaming will be provided for those who cannot attend in person.

https://www.youtube.com/live/5OOr2vEBfDw?feature=share

Instead of flowers, if desired, donations in Robert’s memory could be made to Wycliffe Bible Translators or Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis.