In Remembrance of Robert M. Boehl
December 15, 1923 to February 8, 2021
97 years old

Bob Boehl will be missed dearly by our family.  Bob had many friends and people gravitated toward him because was very friendly and personable, with qualities and morals that were very admirable.  Bob was a very respectable and genuine person.  Bob reminded me of my grandfather, who was very much like him.  I remember first meeting Bob when my son, Robby, started to help him around his home with pulling weeds, and various other jobs.  Bob taught my son how to golf.  There are many times that my son would help Bob, and then Bob would take my son golfing.  Bob talked often about his various jobs in the military and how he served his country.  Bob really missed his daughter, Dotty, who was killed in an automobile accident many years ago.  Bob took care of his wife, Vivian, for many years in ill health before she went to a nursing home.  Once Vivian was in a nursing home, Bob visited her every day and he quickly made close friends with the nurses that worked with Vivian.  Bob’s son, Bill, would visit him and spend time with him and help him over the years.  Bob had a special way of making friends wherever he went and he appreciated everyone he knew.  Bob moved to Kingston, NY to be closer to his niece for a short while, but he moved back to the area he considered home and lived for many years of his life.  Bob moved into an apartment in the Klecknersville area and walked to a corner store nearly every day for breakfast.  Bob quickly made many friends at the corner store, and he was very special to everyone there.  Bob was very good friends with his Pastor who visited him often and spent a great deal of time with him.  Everyone looked out for Bob and made sure he was taken care of.  It saddens me deeply that I didn’t get to see Bob more in the past year because of the COVID situation.  I called and checked in on Bob, and my son, Robby, would also chat with him when I called him.  Sadly, we didn’t visit Bob in person like we would have if COVID was not around.  When I last reached out to check in on Bob I was not able to reach him and I kept getting a message on his phone.  I was able to find out after calling local hospitals that he was a patient at Muhlenberg, but the nurse couldn’t let me know how he was.  I asked if I could talk to Bob, so I was transferred to his room and he sounded so very weak and sick.  I wish I would have been able to talk to Bob one last time before he became so sick because I am still saddened by how he sounded during my last call to him.  I am so sad that such a wonderful man passed away in such a terrible way, without any loved ones by his side, as so many have during this pandemic.  I sent balloons and a teddy bear to Bob’s room the morning of the day he passed away, with a note for the nurse to read to Bob to let him know we loved him.  I wanted Bob to feel some comfort in knowing how much we cared about him.  Bob was a very special person and he will be missed so much by so many people.  Bob is at peace now and will be laid to rest alongside of his wife, Vivian, in New York.  Bob is with Vivian and his daughter, Dotty, again.  May he rest in peace.
With Love, Penny Evans

On a very hot and humid day during late summer in 2010, my younger brother and I had decided to ride our bikes a considerable distance in search of people for whom we could potentially cut lawns.  During our adventurous enterprise, we had decided to ride our bikes to the neighborhood in which our great-grandfather had lived at the time.  There were about fifty-five homes in this community; ever the optimist, I thought our ambition and perseverance would be rewarded that day.  However, at one of the very first homes, I had been stung by a bee in the ankle (making it quite difficult to walk and pedal), homeowner after homeowner had turned down our services, and by the time we were approaching the last few houses, it had begun lightning and thundering.  By the time we had rode our bikes to the last few houses, a downpour had commenced, as well.  After hearing a few more “no, thank you” responses, there was one house left.  This last house was set back a little farther and was a further ride to get to; my younger brother pleaded with me to just turn around and go back home at that point.  I replied with, “Let’s just go to this one last house,” despite our lack of luck, our exhaustion, the treacherous conditions . . . and the bee sting.  After I had knocked on the door, we were greeted by a man who offered us one of the warmest and most welcoming smiles I had ever seen (and we had seen very few, if any, that day).  This man was Bob Boehl.  I went through my spiel and sales pitch, and he responded, “As you can see, I cut my own grass,” pointing to his lawnmower right by the front steps to his house.  We both laughed, but he said that he may have had other things for me to do around the house, and he took my business card.
Long story short, this sparked a dear friendship that lasted over a decade, and I have thought about how glad I am that we decided to just go to that “one last house” countless times.  Throughout those eleven years, whenever I was not busy with high school, in college at Lehigh, or at law school in D.C., and during most weekends and countless times every summer, I would frequently visit and speak with Bob.  In addition to sharing the same first name and middle initial, Bob and I were similar in numerous ways and easily connected on a variety of levels.  We shared a similar taste in music, interests, beliefs, and religion.  We both had the same sense of humor and could easily make each other laugh at any point.  We both deeply cared about and loved our respective families and spending time with them.  We both valued and respected people who are of high moral character and who always do the right thing, regardless of the circumstances.  In addition to our shared interests, Bob was full of grace and compassion and treated my entire family as if we were his own.  I absolutely loved hearing stories from his decades of military service to our country and about all of the places he and Vivian lived and golfed together.  Whenever Bob would speak about serving and being a proud veteran, he would always say, “World War II, Air Force,” referencing his branch with so much pride.  I am sincerely happy that I was able to make him proud throughout the years that I have known him.  Bob was truly my best friend; he knew me better than anyone else; and, most importantly, he taught me so many important traits, values, morals, skills, lessons (. . . and golf) that have made me a much more mature, wise, and better person.  It is still quite hard for me to grapple with and accept the fact that Bob is no longer here with us.  Although he is no longer here and I am certain I will never meet another friend like him, Bob will always live on in my life through the vivid memories I have of him and through everything he has taught me, and I urge everyone to keep Bob’s memory alive in your lives in this same way, as well.  Bob lived and led such a storied, special, and meaningful life, and I am so thankful, appreciative, and happy to have had the pleasure, privilege, and opportunity to know him and spend time with him during part of it.  

I know Vivian and Dotty are so happy to see and be with him, and I would like to think that he and Vivian are hitting the links together somewhere beautiful, once again.

Until we meet again,

Robby Evans

Ten-four, over and out.