Bob Pacl of Belmont, West Tisbury, and Forestdale, died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, on Jan. 10, 2020.
Bob was born in Cicero, Ill., and spent his early years there with his parents Bob and Lucille, and sisters Jan and Lee. Bob left high school to join the Navy toward the end of WWII, and returned afterward to Chicago to continue his studies. He earned his degree in electrical engineering at the University of Illinois while courting his future wife, Florence (“Tilda”) Fritzsche.
The Pacl family moved from Chicago to Bedford, where Bob worked for Lincoln Lab while pursuing a master’s degree at MIT. Robert and Barbara were born in Massachusetts before the family headed west again, to St. Paul, Minn., where Valerie and Dianne were born. The next move was to Willow Grove, Pa., until the family finally settled down in Belmont, where Bob took a job with Raytheon.
Bob was an enthusiastic traveler, and planned a great vacation trip every summer — cross-country America, Europe, Canada, to name a few. These trips created memories that make everyone smile still. Bob and Tilda shared a love of family, and made it a point to visit with cousins, aunts, and uncles at every opportunity. Family trips often included an RV and destinations that offered swimming, skiing, hiking, and horseback riding.
Bob is survived by his son Robert of Harvard, and his daughters Elisabeth, Caroline, Abigail, and Kristin; by his daughter Barbara Bjornson of Carlisle and her sons Erik and Thomas and daughter Kelsey, and by his daughter Valerie Leri of Forestdale (Sandwich), and her sons Christopher and Matthew, and daughter Jessica, and by his daughter Dianne Pacl Cerrone of Orange, Conn., and her son Christian: and by his sisters Leora Garrett of Fort Myers, Fla., and Jan Hare of Port Angeles, Wash. He was predeceased by his son Robert (“Jack”) John.
A celebration of life will be held on Feb. 15 at the Scout House at 74 Walden St. in Concord from 3 to 6. Please join us, and bring a memory to recount for all! In lieu of flowers, donations to the Orangutan Project can be made in Bob’s memory. Bob was a conservationist at heart, and was particularly passionate about saving the orangutans, which face extinction brought about by multinational corporations destroying their habitats. To learn more, visit theorangutanproject.org.
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