Robert A. Souza

Robert "Bob" Anthony Souza, a Navy veteran, animal lover, eternal optimist, and masterful ukulele player who captivated others with stories of his Huckleberry Finn-like childhood adventures of breaking all the rules and occasionally getting caught, passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 25, at his home in San Jose. He was 85.

Bob served in the Navy from 1956 to 1960. In 1958, he deployed to Osaka, Japan. He was often invited to his coworkers' family homes for dinner and would follow his father's tradition of showing up in a pressed suit and a bouquet of fresh flowers. Bob would routinely purchase a bouquet at a flower stall run by the love of his life and eventual wife of 65 years, Shizue Maria Souza, 86. From then on, Bob and Shizue became an inseparable and devoted team, first moving back to the Bay Area in 1960 and, once settled in San Jose, starting their own family.

The adventures never stopped. Bob and Shizue loved taking their two children, Linda and Robert Jr., on frequent road trips with lots of spontaneous stops along the way.

Bob had an indescribable calming, infectious presence and meditative patient approach to life—whether it was taking hours to slowly season and barbeque a perfect rack of ribs for the family, learning a new song on the ukulele, taking care and talking to his love birds, or reading his morning paper with a cup of coffee. He chose to be a good samaritan to whomever he met. His mottoes: Help others when they need it, and if you see an abandoned baby bird, don't look away—do whatever you can to nurture and support any living thing.

Besides his wife, daughter, son, and daughter-in-law, Bob is survived by his grandchildren, Emerald, Cheyenne, Katalina, and Nyeli, with whom he always shared life advice. Bob didn't take anything too seriously and encouraged his loved ones to do the same. He would often advise taking everything one day at a time, not dwelling on failures or letting them define you, but instead accepting them as one step on your journey to a vibrant life that is always bigger and brighter than your darkest moments. Most importantly, he instilled the importance of new experiences and adventure and reminded those around him to be led by curiosity and to "go check it out."

A Catholic funeral will be held at Holy Cross Parish at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 2, followed by a Rite of Committal at 11:30 a.m. at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.