Robert William Hartzell

Bob Hartzell was born at home and raised in the small town of Union Beach on the Jersey shore. His parents, William and Sally Hartzell were divorced when he was a toddler, but Bob grew up surrounded by his mother’s extended family. His maternal grandparents emigrated from Italy and during his childhood they owned a grocery store and restaurant in Union Beach. He spoke fondly of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and his experiences growing up in Union Beach.

The summer after graduation, he and some of his friends enlisted in the Army and did their training at Fort Dix. The parachute tattoo on his forearm reminded us of how proud he was to be a member of the 82nd airborne division and he spoke often of the time he spent stationed in Germany and traveling in Europe.

Bob married his first wife, Linda Feaster shortly after his discharge and moved to her hometown of South River, NJ. They had four children, Kim, Bob, Todd and Troy. They purchased a house in Spotswood where Bob completed a major remodel that doubled its size. They lived there for more than 15 years. Following his divorce, Bob lived in Plainsboro, NJ. He has been married to Margaret (Bobbie) O’Donovan Hartzell since 1990.

Bob was a supervisor at DuPont in Parlin, NJ for fifteen years before leaving to open his own service stations. He left the gas station business in the mid 70’s and founded Guaranteed Carburetors in Old Bridge, NJ. His son, Bob trained with him and opened his own successful operation, Guaranteed Carburetors in Largo, Florida in 1981. Bob retired in 1995 and moved to Florida where he worked part-time with his son.

Bob’s passions included golf, the NY Yankees, casinos and his rescued greyhounds. His achievements include a hole in one in 1988 at Plainsboro Country Club and a second hole in one in 1995 at Countryside Country Club. Playing at St. Andrews in Scotland was one of his most memorable vacations. A more recent highlight was winning a contest to see the Yankees play opening day for the 2006 season. He and Bobbie joined the team for a welcome home dinner and had a private tour of the stadium and dugout.

Bob was a frequent visitor to Atlantic City when he lived in New Jersey and he won the World Roulette Championship in 1982. Whenever he traveled, Bob collected chips from different casinos to add to his vast framed collection.

During the 1970’s, Bob was a championship drag racer in his 1966 emerald green Chevy II Nova, called “Far Out”. He won his superstock division at the Spring Nationals in Newark Ohio and held the track record for his class at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ.

Those who knew and loved Bob, were familiar with the twinkle he would get in his eye when it was time for a celebration, especially if there was good food and dancing involved! Even as Alzheimer’s continued to take him away from us, you could still count on that twinkle when it was time for a party.

In addition to his wife Bobbie, he will be missed by his children and grandchildren:

Kim (Rick) Nymeyer, Elkhart, IN

Jared Nymeyer, 25, Clearwater, Florida

Kayla Nymeyer, 24, Nanjing, China

Bob(Linda) Hartzell, Dunedin, FL

Ryan McNally, 20, Dunedin, FL

Megan McNally, 18, Dunedin, FL

Conor McNally, 14, Dunedin, FL

Troy(Stacey) Hartzell

Donovan Hartzell 15, Largo, FL

Nicole Domante, 12, Largo, FL

Cassandra Hartzell, 11, Largo, FL

Sophia Hartzell, 4, Largo, FL

He was also close to his sister-in-law and nephew:

Kay O’Donovan, Montvale, NJ

Evan O’Donovan, Montvale, NJ