Deceased January 7, 2022
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In Memory
Born in Cleveland, Bob passed peacefully at home in Mount Arlington, N.J., on Jan. 7, 2022.
A Chagrin Falls, Ohio, native, he captained his football and baseball teams at Western Reserve Academy.
At Amherst, Robert played baseball and football, played clarinet in band, sang in Glee Club, was a proud member of Delta Upsilon and majored in economics.
Bob spent two years in the Army and then earned an MBA at the University of Michigan. There he met and married Wanda Michaels, his wife of 52 years.
He started his career with the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co. in Troy, N.Y. In 1962, Bob joined Glens Falls Insurance, later Continental Insurance, and moved up the ranks as a senior executive in Continental’s corporate office in New Jersey until his retirement in 1992.
Bob was a devoted husband and father, coach and cheerleader for his children, and organizer of a girls’ softball league. He had an unparalleled generosity of spirit, a quick sense of humor and a gift for long talks with friends and strangers alike. His attention to detail in gift giving was legendary.
Many of the last 30 years were spent traveling to reunions with family, and he cherished his annual jaunts to various places with Amherst friends Tom Swanston ’53, Bill Kenney ’53, Carl Apthorp ’54 and Allen “Sabu” Burns ’55.
An avid Amherst Mammoths fan, Bob attended as many events as he could, particularly women’s basketball games. As his eyesight began to fail, so did his ability to travel, but that didn’t stop his spirit. Up until his final moments, he had his family calling out play-by-play moments for every Amherst athletics game he could stream.
Bob is survived by children Kirsten (Dan Leslie), Erik (Lenette) and Zoe (Todd Ward) and five grandchildren.
—Zoe Peterson Ward