Bob was raised on Elm St, by Porter Square, Cambridge and he hung out there up until the day he passed. He would spend some time on Tuesdays at the Newtown to play a little Keno and make some gentlemen's bets with the bartender, Freddy.
He was raised by Winny and Cliff, with his brother Paul (Rocky) and sisters, Mary, Bernie, Sheila, and Helen. He said he was so poor growing up that he had to wear his sisters patten leather shoes to school, and for Christmas he'd get the coloring book one year, and the crayons the next.
They moved to Belmont St in Somerville and attended catholic school at St Theresa's on Summer St. He was an alter boy there. Later attended Somerville High.
His pals he hung out with were Danny Harrington, Robby Jewers, Charlie Sullivan, and Jimmy "The Greek" Angelis. He went on to the Army with his buddy, Jimmy The Greek, and still hung out with him in the summer time up in York, ME. He also loved to box in the Army.
For a short time he sold ice cream on the pony wagon around Union Square, and his nickname with his softball buddies, was "Ice Cream". They also referred to him as "dude", "Bobby" and "Dad".
He lost his Dad, Cliff when he was in the service.
When he returned to Somerville after 3 years stationed in Arizona, he worked at a dress factory in Boston. He made a bet with a co-worker that he could get this girl, Lorraine, to go out on a date with him. Lorraine (from East Boston) thought he was some wise-ass, cocky kid from Somerville and had no interest in him, but she went on the date anyway, so he won the bet and this past September, Lorraine and Bob celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary.
In 1965 they had their first child, Bobby, 1966 it was Lisa, 1968 it was Chris, and in 1969 in was Debbie, Irish quadruplets, I guess you can say. They lived on Burnside Ave where they met their life long friends, Gerry and Jimmy Calandra. Lorraine saw Gerry sweeping the sidewalk with an old broom, and at the time she was selling Stanley products, she offered to demo a new broom and sold her a new one and they became friends since.
At the same time they also made friends with Donna and Tony Alibrandi (the barber and his wife), they spent many Saturday nights going to dinner (he liked the simple stuff, meat and potatoes or fish and chips), and playing cards. Good friends who will also miss Bob dearly.
He worked at Western Electric in Watertown as an assembler, inspector and test techician. A proud union member (IBEW) who survived a few strikes along the way. He met his good friend, Benny "Beeps" Mara there, and "beeps" was their code word for beer.
In 1965 they needed some extra income and he got a partime job at Harvard Wine in Cambridge. He worked for Jim Black Sr and on the night he passed away, he worked there for Jim Black Jr, with his son, Bobby. That part-time temporary job lasted 42 years, as he loved the work and the people. He also bartended for a while at the North Cambridge, VFW, and between the 2 jobs he served the likes of Tip O'Neil (he said he wasn't a good tipper), Julia Childs, Bill Walton, Upton Bell, Peter Wolf, Scott Harshbarger, Paul O'Donnell and many more local celebrities. He would treat them just like he would Jumpin' Bob, Stoneman, or any of the other regular homeless people. His buddy Jimmy Calandra and son also worked there with him and that made it fun for all, especially the after hour Quality Control, beer inspections.
1970 Lorraine and Bob and 4 kids had to move from Burnside Ave (Porter Sq area) to a bigger apartment, and they found a place on Sargent Ave (Winter Hill) where they rented from Jack and Irene Noquiera. It was a fun and safe neighborhood for the kids (regardless of what was going on in the back rooms of auto shops and bar rooms in the area at the time), and Bob did all he could to make it safe for his wife and kids. They were close to Foss Park and he took his son, Bobby, there for Little League. He witnessed his first hit, and the first time he pee'd his pants in public. He also seen his Century Bank win the Little League World Series, with Bobby on the bench. He would often complain to coach Pisco that Bobby should be out there instead of his own kid.
He loved music (especially the oldies, on WJIB, 740 AM) and that appreciation for music led his kids to play guitar (Bobby) and drums (Chris). Chris went on to become a great drummer, and played for a few local bands.
His daughter Lisa, was one of the toughest kids in the neighborhood and she definitely got that from her Dad. She brought his sense of humor down to North Carolina with her.
His youngest daughter Debbie, was a tiny little thing (and still is) who accidentally, under Bob's watch, burned her hands and had to wear bandages that looked like boxing gloves, so he liked to tease her about it and shadow box with her as boxing was a sport he loved.
During the 70's he took his family every year to Smithholm Cottages on Lake Winnepasauke, where he would make sure everybody got to make their own sundaes at the Kellerhaus, play mini-golf, go out on the row boats, hit FunSpot (only when that 4 letter word hit that nobody could say, RAIN), play horseshoes, and badmitton, and frisbee with Lucky.
In 1976, Lorraine who was friends with Betty Farrell on the other end of Sargent Ave, found out about a house for sale at 18 Sargent. Lorraine and Bob home owners? It happened and they had a 2 family for under $40K. Now Bob wasn't the fix it up, home improvement kind of guy. So Lorraine and her neighbor Jane did most of the work to get the house liveable. Of course Bob just did what Lorraine asked him to do. As he would say often, "Your the boss, Lorraine"
For a while when they shut down Western Electric he worked for his good friend, Bobby "Egor" Casey at Rainbow Carpet in Somerville. Who now resides in Maine and he tossed a few with regularly during the Summer.
At the house at 18 Sargent Ave, they built a room downstairs where his kids hosted a few parties with their friends, and that room he called "The Bomb Shelter". All his kids and their friends thought he (and Lorraine) were the coolest and they could hang out with them like a friend and not just some friend's parent. His kids' friends will miss him for being the COOL DAD!
In 1996, the house was looking good and one weekend they went to visit her Aunt Ruthie's trailer at Flagg's Trailer park in York, ME. The next weekend Lorraine tried talking Bob into buying one. He was a simple guy and didn't need a trailer a block from the ocean. But she proceeded and did it against his wishes. Last summer he would go up there without her on Friday mornings, because he couldn't wait to get there.
In 2000, with all the kids married and out of the house (except for the oldest, Bobby) Lorraine figured, I talked him into the trailer, now let's try a single family home. She found a nice single family in Stoneham (with an in-law apt for the son) that would be perfect. But Bob was not going to move out of Somerville, he was there 62 years, had his daily routine, and would not move for the life of him. 2 months ago, they were in Stoneham for 7 years (and the kid moved out at the young age of 40).
Along the way, Lisa and her husband, Damian brought into the world, Matthew (15) and Samantha (12), they now reside in Carthage, NC. Chris and his wife, Sandra, had Jessica (5), Kayla (3), and Lexi (1), they live in Methuen. Debbie and her husband, Steve, had Ryan (8) and Shawn (6) and they live in Tewksbury. The oldest son, Bobby lives with his girlfriend, Kathy, and puppy, Brandi in Methuen.
Bob was a simple, bright guy, with a sense of humor that nobody in this world has. He loved to break people's chops in his own fun way, and that helped people become better. Those people will alway remember him for his sense of humor. He loved to work the crowd, whether it was telling jokes by the campfire at the trailer park, or singing, "What a Wonderful World" at a wedding.
He was definitely not into the materialistic things in life, he taught us all that money can't buy you love, and that the people around you (family and friends) are more valuable than cash. He didn't show his emotional side, and was often looked at as a tough guy, he was tough and was a fighter till the end, but deep down inside he was all heart, and ironically it was his big heart that failed in the end. He rarely, said, "I love you", but he showed his real love with his actions!
He loved his sports, especially the Red Sox, the Pats, and the Giants. He was alive to see them all win a championship. And he was a true CHAMPION. Ironically he had a T Shirt packed for his Easter trip to NC, that read, RED SOX WORLD CHAMPIONS - NOW I CAN DIE IN PEACE!
Thanks for all the memories, you will be loved and missed by all of the lives you touched throughout your 68 years.
May PEACE BE WITH YOU!
