Robert "Bob" L. Kovner

Robert “Bob” L. Kovner, 95, of Brockton, Mashpee, and Lake Worth, Florida, passed away peacefully at Bridges Memory Care Assisted Living in Mashpee on November 7, 2023, surrounded by his loving family.

Bob was the son of Benjamin and Edith Kovner and was raised in Brockton, Mass. He was a graduate of Brockton High School (class of 1946) and the New England Conservatory of Music (class of 1950). Bob served in the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma from 1950-52. During his Army service, he married Selma, the love of his life, in 1951. For their honeymoon, he drove her to Fort Sill in a 1946 Plymouth with no air conditioner or GPS, the first of many adventures together.

Bob was an accomplished trumpet player. At 16 years old, he played his first professional job with a band in Boston. After completing his Army service, Bob played and traveled with several “big bands” in the Boston area, Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, Bermuda, Nantucket and Florida.

In 1958, Bob settled down with Selma in Brockton, where he joined the family business, Central Music, and established the “Bob Kovner Orchestra”. Bob’s orchestra was in high demand as he entertained people with music everyone loved at weddings bar mitzvahs, anniversaries, and charitable and company events alike. It was not unusual for him to be stopped by people on the street who recognized him as providing music at their weddings, even 20 years in the past. He served for a time as the director of music at the South Shore Music Circus and was often invited to join other bands, playing for performers in Boston including Judy Garland, Tony Bennett, Debby Reynolds and many others.

In the early 80s, he and Selma purchased their first vacation home at the Fountains Country Club in Lake Worth, Florida and became intermittent snowbirds. It was in Florida that the “unathletic” Bob discovered golf and loved it. He was a member at Thorny Lea Golf Club in Brockton and played on the Cape at the Falmouth Country Club and Southport. They purchased a summer home on Cape Cod in Mashpee, where their children and grandchildren were regular visitors. He introduced his cherished grandsons to the game of golf and they loved their Papa for doing that. Brockton remained Bob and Selma’s primary residence until Bob retired in 2016. With golf, Bob and Selma found an activity they could enjoy together even though Selma was a better golfer.

In later years as his health began to decline, he became a resident at Bridges Memory Care Assisted Living in Mashpee.

Bob is survived by his wife of 72 years, Selma (Yaffe) Kovner, daughter Linda and her husband Jeff of Canton, son Laurence of Hudson, cherished grandsons, Matthew Bennett and his wife Lindsey Trett Bennett, and Eric Bennett and his fiancé Samantha Ferris, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Joyce Abromowitz and his brother, Richard Kovner.

Funeral Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday November 12th at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington Street, Canton, Mass, with interment following at Sharon Memorial Park, 40 Dedham Street, Sharon, Mass. Chapel Service will be livestreamed at https://tinyurl.com/Bob-Kovner

Shiva will follow the funeral at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, 1125 Route 1, Norwood, Mass.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Bob’s memory can be made to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, 300 1st St, Charlestown, MA 02129, or via spauldingrehab.org/giving.