Bob was born into a large family living in East Dayton. While the kids today are blessed with many means to entertain themselves, in Bob’s era personal creativity was a necessity. The local park, schoolyard, or a street in the neighborhood were the places to pick up a basketball, football or baseball game, depending on the season. He enjoyed them all, but there was little doubt that basketball was his favorite.
Bob attended Human Elementary where he was exposed to organized sports, coached by future Stivers icon, Joe Sullivan, who helped him to develop the skills and confidence he would need at the next level – high school. Bob lived on the dividing line between Wilbur Wright and Stivers. Since most of his siblings had attended Wilbur Wright, it was assumed he would follow in their footsteps. However, because of the close relationships he had developed while attending Human, Bob decided Stivers was where he wanted to be. At Stivers he came under the guiding　influence of such legendary coaches as Skip LaRue, Jim Hanby and Traver Sutton. Bob earned seven varsity letters – three each in basketball and track and one in football. He was selected All-City in basketball. A gifted all-around athlete in three sports, he was awarded special achievement by the Dayton Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his outstanding performance in track and field in 1957. He also played three years of summer league baseball for Stivers under the sponsorship of Hyland Machine Company.
Following high school, Bob attended Campbellsville Junior College and was a two year starter on the basketball team. After college, Bob returned to Dayton and worked for Inland Manufacturing, retiring after 31.5 years in 1991. He continued his interest in sports throughout his adult life as both a participant and as a spectator. He took up bowling and golf, excelling at both. Additionally, he became a high school basketball referee from 1977 to 1991. Two special memories for Bob are being a member of a golf team that won a Dayton Flyers Open and attending the Indy 500 for 34 consecutive years.
Bob has two sons, Mike and Bob, Jr., two granddaughters and one grandson.