Mary

Bob really thrived in teasing and joking. Bob and I (his sister Mary) lived together for a year in college at UW-Madison. Mary liked baking and baked a lasagna one day. She took it out of the oven to cool and went out to run an errand. When she returned, Bob was there and said how much he loved the lasagna and had eaten it all, apologizing for having done so. He offered Mary some cold cuts instead for her dinner. Mary is hard to rattle and she said OK. He then told her he was joking, had a big laugh, and pulled the lasagna out of the pantry, which they then ate together.

As a teenager, Bob began many of his life-long hobbies. After taking shop class in high school, he began his wood-working hobby. He also decided he needed to learn how cars worked, so he took apart the engine of our old Pontiac family station wagon. And then he put it back together. He figured that was the way to really know how it worked. For the rest of his life then, he fixed his and his families cars himself.
But what Bob could fix was not limited to cars, he could fix everything! He was known throughout our relations for his abilities to fix and install/do anything. So when my Uncle Gerald died, who had the same abilities as Bob and a great tool chest, Aunt Faye thought Bob was the perfect person to inherit his tools, which he did. Bob then said to his Aunts Faye and Gerry, you now need to let me know when you need something fixed. And they did. Bob would go over to his Aunt Gerry’s house, Uncle Gerald’s tools in his hand, and installed a faucet, painted a bathroom, and did other installations.
He throughout his entire life fixed, installed, and upgraded my parents’ and our mother’s house. He was the most generous person I know with his time, always willing to help. He planted flowers, redesigned her gardens, fixed faucets, installed a disposal, installed new light fixtures, and the list goes on and on. He NEVER bragged or showed off all his efforts—he was always modest about his generosity and what he did for others.

Bob’s talents were MANY. He was an amazing pianist as well, really incredible. He could improvise beautifully and could play anything just by ear. When my mother moved out of our family house, he was the obvious one to inherit the family piano.

On the 4th of July, Bob and John (Judy’s husband) dug out several bushes at our mother’s house, working all day, planting flowers, and some beautiful rose bushes, trimming others, all beautifully in bloom today in memory of him.