3/22/03 - Bob passed away peacefully with his wife and daughters present. Our deepest sympathy and love go to Bob's family and friends.

Bob has just been diagnosed with the final stages of Lung and Bone Cancer, he is also a diabetic and has heart disease. He has chosen to not go through with any cancer treatments and is only going for pain control. He doesn't know how long he has and doesn't want to know either. He has Palliative Care coming in to help.

My Dad is a loving man with 5 children 2 of which were my mothers younger sister's sons, because their parents were killed in a car accident when the boys were under the age of 7 there were actually 4 boys the two oldest came to us and the 2 youngest went with my mothers twin sister. My mom and Dad treated the 2 boys and the 3 of us like we were all equal and everything was always fair. He always did the cleaning and cooking around the house, as Mom worked all day and he worked shifts. Not only was Dad a great cook, he also has the best advice, almost as though he could tell the future. One of the best things I learned from my Dad was not to make fun of anyone, Dad would make time for everyone and the more special their need the more time he had for them. He has been married to my Mother for 43 years and they were fortunate enough to enjoy early retirement at age 43, and enjoyed a few trips to Florida. He was so busy as a shift worker and father he really didn't have the time he wanted to have with his kids. This helped make him a very special grandpa to his six grandchilden, who he truly adores. Dad has had many hobbies throughout his life, gardening from dusk till dawn was one of them, he had the most beautiful flowers and lawn , and often people would stop their cars and ask him questions or just enjoy them, another being horse racing, dad could spend many hours just studying the horses and would often attend the races, just to get out and enjoy the day. Even now with his illness he finds that continuing to get out to coffee with his friends in the morning and attending the races in the afternoon keeps his mind off of his fate and gives him something to look forward to doing everyday.

His most recent advice to us on his unfortunate illness is "be happy for me, I/we your mother and I have had a great life".