I wrote this tribute about zBob a few days after he died.

July 29th, 2007

Obits usually tell you about the birth and death dates of the deceased, their children, and their hobbies. I’m not going to do that. I am going to tell you about the Bob I knew.

I have been honored to have Bob as one of my closest friends. I had the habit of tagging along with him everywhere when I was working at Kent State University. I learned more about servers and hardware from him than just about anyone else I know.

I also learned more about Bob. First, from tagging along with him and, second, after he became ill we talked weekly on the telephone. I would call every Monday night and we would talk for hours. Even when he wasn’t well he would sit and talk and truly enjoyed those conversations.

Bob loved his family - Billie (his wife), his daughters and grandchildren. He talked about his family continuously. He said that he was so proud of them. After Billie’s death, he spoke about how much he missed her.

He loved his friends - in particular the DL Guys as we call ourselves. After I was downsized, he would keep me abreast of what each person was doing and how they were doing. He would also ask how I was doing.

He loved BMW motorcycles. At the hospital he and I talked about how after this operation he was going to get a side-car so as to be able to ride again.

Bob enjoyed working with the students and faculty at Kent State University. He was very proud of what the dl guys had accomplished with iLinc - up to the downsizing. After the downsizing he was concerned about what was going to happen to those same faculty and students.

Bob loved Jack Daniels Black. He didn’t care for beer much. He didn’t like melons or Italian dishes. He like Chris LeDoux, Van Morrison, and Warren Zevon. And, Bob smoked Marlboro cigarettes - soft packs. I never seen him with anything else.

He would tell stories - motorcycle accidents he had been in, family stories, and other assorted things. He would even tell stories on himself like the time he dropped the university cell phone into the urinal or the night we went to Tijuana, Mexico only to have an university server go belly up while we were gone. Yep, we admitted where where were at and earned the nickname of the ‘Tijuana Twins.’

He wrote poetry - really good stuff, imho.

Probably the most common photo I’ve seen of Bob was the one I lifted off the iLinc server at Kent. Yep, that’s Bob in a suit. To be honest I mostly saw Bob in jeans and a t-shirt -- dress slacks if he had a meeting.

And most importantly, I was honored to be able to call him my friend. I did not know my heart could be this broken. In time it will heal. There is some society that believes that someone is not truly dead until the last person who remembers them are no more. I know that Bob will live in our hearts forever.

And, I know he is now with Billie.

Bob, take care, guy ok? There’s a lot of people here missing you.

Contact me: info@friendofgreywolf.com