It is with a heavy heart we write this message. Bob passed away Monday at home peacefully after a lengthy battle with heart disease.
Everyone who knew Bob loved him, whether it was the people he knew through long-time friendships, or work, or the people he met in his retirement years in Mount Dora, FL.
Bob traveled the world in his 39-year career in the aerospace industry, retiring in 2013 from Chromalloy Gas Turbine as general manager. He was blessed to have the gifts of curiosity and wonderment, always excited to learn new things and share stories and jokes with a warm smile and a big laugh.
As many people knew, Bob enjoyed tinkering in his garage and was the “MacGyver” of fixing and improving things. If he couldn’t fix something after 10 trips to Lowe’s, he still didn’t give up trying.
Bob is survived by his wife of 49 years, Karen; his daughter Jennifer Jones and her fiance, Justin Miller; his daughter Kathryn and her husband, Brian Sullivan; granddaughters Savannah and Avery and their dad, Travis Davidson; sisters and brother-in-laws Kathy and Mark Hecklinger, Beth and Phil Caulfield, and Christine and Mark Morrow; his favorite mother-in-law, as he always said, Janet Ragozzino Helland; sisters-in-law and their husbands, Debbie and John Corcoran and Kim and Jack Dwyer; his brothers-in-law Eric Helland and Skip Helland; and many loving nieces and nephews.
Bob had the generous spirit of giving to others, especially during the holiday season. To honor Bob’s legacy, we will be having a Celebration of Life in CT at a date to be determined this spring where we will be collecting donations for Toys for Tots.