Bob passed away in Oct. 2005.  As reserved as many of you may remember Bob, he regretted that and claims to have kissed every girl in the Senior class as they walked through the door to the grad party.  I am glad I did not know how beautiful the women of the class of 1959 were because he married me, Sara, in Dec. 1966 and we have two beautiful daughters, Heather, who is a US History teacher in Los Gatos (and a world traveler like her Dad) and Mandi who married Jeff Preece and is the mother of Dakota 10, Ayden 6, and Dylan 5.

After high school Bob attended Pepperdine in Los Angeles on a 4 yr. scholarship with Elner Logeman.  He had a huge crush on her and I was lucky again that she may not have noticed.  He was saddened to hear of her death.  Bob took a gap year and worked for United Airlines at the SF Airport in their warehouse.  In 1961 he took the trip of his life with classmate John Jaeger.  They flew to NYC and stayed at the Y and then took a ship to Europe where they picked up their respective vehicles (his a Vespa) and traveled throughout Western Europe and Hungary, the homeland of John's parents.  They had adventures starting in Spain with a mysterious stranger that took them to Morocco.

He came back to attend College of San Mateo and transferred to San Jose State where he graduated and earned a teaching credential in Industrial Arts (our home is a testament to this with many lovely wooden furniture pieces and turned bowls).  Bob student taught at my high school and was introduced to me right after graduation by a friend. Six months after we were married, Bob was drafted and went to Basic in El Paso where he was assigned to Ft. Polk, LA (Jungle Training!) until another soldier broke a collar bone and he was reassigned.  I was attending SJS when he went to Ft. Huachuca, AZ and then I joined him at Ft. Gordon, GA.  He was then assigned to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE-the military arm of NATO) as a highly qualified Spec. 4 Quartermaster.  When people asked what he did during Vietnam he would answer, "dirty laundry" (and he made great coffee).

Bob taught in San Leandro for a year before being drafted and on return joined his brother, Bruce, in San Jose where they both retired in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Bruce now lives in Palm Springs.  He and Bruce worked every summer at California Canners and Growers (CalCan cannery) as night shift weigh masters for 10 summers while getting by on a public schoolteachers' salary.

He and I fell in love, got married, parented children and remained in love despite, and maybe because of, all the fits and starts of being in real life together.  John Jaeger remained a lifelong friend since the 1st grade at Beresford School.  John spoke at Bob's Memorial Service in the most thoughtful, tender and hilarious way.
 

Bob was very proud of having attended Hillsdale and mentioned it often. I can't tell you how many times we would pull off the freeway and I knew we were going to take a ride down Sylvan Ave. where he grew up.

Sara Darnley

saradarnley@att.net