Robert Ronald Silagy
Robert Ronald ‘Bob’ Silagy, age 86, passed away December 19, 2019. He was born in Mineola, New Yorki on August 16, 1933 to Charles and Marion Brown Silagy.
He lived his first 8 years in Brooklyn, NY until his parents relocated to Norwalk, CT. It was there his baby sister Marion was born, in 1943. By 1945 Charkes and Marion moved their family to Gardena, CA.
Growing up, the two brothers were inseparable. They both played football at Gardena High School, where they lead an active life, until they both enlisted in the U.S. Navy and received special dispensation to serve together on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Princeton during the Korean War. Bob and Fred served their country well and returned to California.
Bob was an aspiring actor, artist (he was once offered a job as an illustrator for Walt Disney), a boxer in the Navy, a champion water skier and boat racer, and he made his living as a plasterer for his father, and later running his own crew. It was that crew who would go on to plaster the Matterhorn at Disneyland.
Bob lived his younger years fast and to the fullest. The world was his stage and his good looks and charm provided many opportunities; he was hard to resist. He never met a stranger and never failed to leave an impression on any and all he met along the way.
In Redondo Beach he met Mary Louise Lackey Karlow and they were married in September of 1962 in Las Vegas. Eleven months later they would be blessed with identical twin daughters, Robynne and Dana Lynne, sadly Dana survived only one day. Robynne remained in the hospital for three months in an isolate, until Bob and Mary Lou could hold her and bring her home in time for Christmas in 1963. Less than eleven months later, their son Robert was born.
Bob and Lou raised their family in Torrance, CA, where he owned and sold campers at Kamper Korral, until 1976 when they moved to the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead. It was there Bob took up real estate, and eventually became a broker.
After the kids graduated high school, the family was Las Vegas bound, where Bob remained in real estate and property management. Las Vegas was home until the death of his wife, Mary Lou, in 2007. Bob relocated to Overton, NV where he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was embraced by his new community.
In 2016 Bob met his oldest daughter Mary, and granddaughter Sarah. They loved each other from the moment they met and spent as much time as possible together. Bob especially enjoyed his trips to Oregon to be with his son Robert and visit his brother’s family in Washington.
Bob was a character and lived an active life. He loved to laugh, entertain and was always the life of the party. He worked hard all his life and was an accomplished wood worker and craftsman. He had a generous heart and a passion for life; one of his greatest joys was bring a papa. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.
Survivors include his children: Mary, Robynne and Robert; grandchildren Sarah and Justin; and dearest friend and caretaker, Dee Stocking.
A celebration of life will be held Sunday, January 19, 2020 from 1-5 p.m. at the Silagy residence, 402 N. Whitmore, Overton.
