On Monday, August 5, Robert (Bob) Steigerwald died peacefully at his home after a short illness. He was 95 years old, and had a full, honorable life, raising six children, being married over 25 happy years each to Helen Jean and Mary, in the end, caring for them dutifully during their health declines.
In addition to Helen and Mary, Bob’s son, James, preceded him in death in 2019 survived by his wife Anna. Bob is survived by his brother, Chuck, and sister, Cathy; daughter, Anne Marie Faul (husband, John), and sons John (wife, Pattie), Bill (wife, Sandy), Steve (wife, Marirose), and Michael and stepson and daughter Pat and (Linda). He also left eight grandchildren - Cara, Christine, Caitlin, Sean, Marsi, Laura, Doug and Dan and six great-grandchildren, Chase, Gunnar, Cal, River, Evie and Carly.
Bob was born in 1929 in Binghamton, NY to Louis and Irene Steigerwald, with an identical twin, Richard, and three other siblings – James, Chuck, and Cathy. During high school, he fell in love with Helen, and after serving two years in the Army during the Korean War, they married and started their family. In 1965, the family moved to Raleigh as Bob’s career advanced with IBM. Bob spent 42 years at IBM, starting with a two-year electrical engineering degree, installing the first mainframes at the Navy and Pentagon. He then helped develop the golf ball Selectric typewriter, then ultimately, became director of keyboard development for almost all IBM’s computers, and developer of point-of-sale machines.
Throughout, he attended almost every one of his kid’s athletic events, and volunteered constantly for his churches, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Raphael’s, his children’s school, Cardinal Gibbons, the Boy Scouts, Meals on Wheels, Catholic Charities, the American Cancer Society, and a homeless shelter. He drove, organized, built, counted money, painted, was on Boards – whatever was required.
His hobby was restoring cars, first Model A’s (a ’31 Roadster and a ’31 Huckster Wagon), then two Datsuns, and two Camaros. Later he shifted to woodworking, and he built desks, chests, jewelry boxes, tables, cutting boards, and secretaries for all his children and grandchildren.
Bob was a devoted husband and a steady presence to his children. Through lessons and modeling, he taught them all self-reliance, responsibility, perseverance, humility, and respect for others. His steady, caring demeanor as they moved through adolescence and young adulthood never faltered. He didn’t judge or pry, but when he recognized there was an issue, he offered help, unquestioningly.
Dad was our quiet hero. He never sought the spotlight, and he gave credit and compliments easily. He lived to be of service, to truly engage people, and to do his best. We loved having him for 95 years and we owe so, so much to him.
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