Robert George Westover

                                                                           Robert G. Westover October 3, 1932 - September 20, 2021

 Bob was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and spent summers in St. Catherine’s, Ontario with his cousins, aunts and uncles. At his father’s insistence, Bob attended a vocational school where he learned many skills that came in handy throughout his life. Bob joined the Coast Guard at seventeen and afterwards entered Teachers' College at Buffalo State, beginning a life-long career as industrial arts teacher. One of the best decisions of his life was marrying Nancy, whom he met in the teacher’s lounge at Benjamin Franklin High School in Rochester, New York. After moving to Long Island in 1961 they both taught at the Sachem School District. Bob was an innovative teacher who had a soft spot for some of his more challenging students and was a talented “Teen Whisperer.” Bob and Nancy had three fabulous children, Anne, Susan and Rob, whom he referred to as his “little people,” and six grandchildren. Bob was always there for his family in addition to being a great neighbor and creative problem solver who could be called on in times of need if your driveway needed snow blowing or there was a raccoon trapped in your bathroom. Known for his sense of humor and spirit of adventure, Bob tried his hand at a multitude of endeavors including shepherding, buckwheat farming in the Finger Lakes, starting up a business crafting handmade furniture and building his own sailboat. The year after he retired, Bob decided to take up biking- his first trip spanned 4500 miles, coast to coast over 93 days. Although some of the younger bikers took bets at the start of the trip as to how long he would last, Bob earned much respect for his perseverance and good attitude. He took another half a dozen bike trips, both domestically and internationally. Bob also learned Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu even though there was no one in his age group to compete against. Throughout his 80s, Bob walked the dog daily on the beach and proudly mowed his own lawn. Bob will be remembered as an passionate news reader, a volunteer, an avid coffee drinker and solitaire player, a story teller with a keen sense of timing, a maker of many pots of delicious soup, a humble and interesting individual and someone who will be greatly missed. The family will be hosting an outdoor Open House at: 51 Highland Down in Shoreham on Saturday, September 25th from 1:00-4:00. We will be outside. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to support our combat wounded, ill and injured service members at Semper Fi and America’s Fund (http:// www.thefund.org/).

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Robert George Westover, please visit our floral store.