Robert Lee Josephs

I was born in 1933 in Baltimore, Maryland. I dropped out of high school after three years. I tried many jobs, and changed jobs frequently because I wanted to experience so many things. In 1951, I joined the Army National Guard, and in 1953, I enlisted in the Army. I spent 13 weeks learning Morse code and became a high speed radio operator. The Army stationed me in the Army Security Agency in Germany. I received my GED while in the Army. Furloughs were spent touring many countries in Europe. I was honorably discharged in 1956.

In 1960, while working for the telephone company, I married “the girl next door”, Florence Finkelstein. Telephone work lost its lure, so I quit. I sold insurance, had a Snap-On-Tool route, and founded Next Day Appliance Repair Service; the business failed due to my lack of management skills. I went to work for Lew N Lewis Laundry Co. After several years with Lew, I applied to the University of Maryland in their pre-med course. The University of Maryland accepted by GED. Still working for Lew, it took me five years to acquire three years of college credits. In 1965, I applied for admission to Podiatry College and was accepted. Classes began in September, 1966.

In my second year of Podiatry College, I legally changed the names of my wife and children. This infuriated my father so much, he disowned me. Because of his fury, he did not speak to me or aid us in any way. He also forbid my mother from visiting or sending anything to us. Florence’s mother never saw a need to aid us either. Because school was a full time job, I resorted to several part time jobs. Most of the time, I held three or more jobs simultaneously. We were poor, really poor.

After graduation, we moved to Hagerstown, Maryland. I went to work for a local podiatrist for one year, then started my own practice. The practice became overwhelmingly successful! In nineteen years of practice, in addition to seeing non-surgical patients, I performed more than twenty five thousand surgical procedures.

My wife, Florence, died in 1978 at age 36. We had four children, ages 9 to 16. They hardened and quickly learned to do for themselves to survive. I am proud of them beyond words.

I took flying lessons, Scuba diving lessons, made a violin, grew bonsai trees, made thousands of humidors, became a private detective, and also became my own realtor of sorts. I sold my house in Hagerstown unassisted, I then moved to Florida to be near my sister and brother-in-law.

I bought a small house twenty miles from my sister – a small bachelor pad. I also bought a big yacht. Untrained as I was, I took it through a hurricane to Key West. I learned to hate that boat and tried to sell it. A year later, hurricane Irene took it to the bottom, so the insurance company paid me one half for its remains. Then, I took the Coast Guard course and was licensed as a Merchant Marine Captain, with rites to sail a vessel up to 100 tons.

In 1999, I had an operation on my shoulder. When awakening from anesthesia, I met my wife, my post-op nurse. We were married a year later had a huge, catered party at the Country Club. Judi made “a few small changes” to the house, doubling the size.

I contracted PMR, a muscle disease, in 1999. Because of PMR, I have had to take cortisone for the rest of my life. Cortisone has softened my bones, wasted my muscles, caused weight gain, diabetes and many other problems.

Since marrying Judi, we have traveled all over the world. We’ve been to Russia, Katherine The Great’s Hermitage, Finland, Norway and Scandinavia. Our cruises to the Caribbean have become commonplace, with stops in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Aruba, Curacao, Venezuela, Trinidad, St. Thomas and the Cayman Islands. We crossed the Equator, where I was initiated into Davy Jones’ Locker in January, 2003. We’ve been to Tokyo, China, Alaska, Italy and through the Panama Canal. We’ve traveled up the Amazon River and caught and ate piranha. Our trip to Europe included Greenwich, England where I stood on the GMT line and walked around Stonehenge. Additional countries include France and Ireland, where we visited the Blarney Castle. And that doesn’t begin to tell of our numerous trips in the good old USA. We took our dogs across the country dragging a travel trailer, stopping in Virginia and Maryland and then across the Rockies to Colorado. The return trip saw temperatures ranging from 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the Rockies to 113 degrees Fahrenheit in Tennessee.

I’m now 77 years old. I go fishing as often as I want and keep busy finding things to break so I can fix them. Besides keeping the boat in tip-top condition, pulling weeds seems to be my most critical full-time job. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m satisfied. I’ve done it all.

My mantra has been “Do it, do it now, do it right – right now” Bob Josephs.

A visitation for Robert will be held Friday, May 5, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1065 Emerson Drive N.E, Palm Bay, Florida, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 AM.

Robert will be laid to rest in Florida Memorial Gardens, 5950 South US Highway 1, Rockledge, Florida.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FloridaMemorialFH-Gardens.com for the Josephs family.