Robert F. Dooley May 8, 1936 to January 13, 2007
"What I know about Bob."
What a Awesome man. Bob was born in San Bernardino in 1936 to his parents Gerald and Rowena Dooley. He grew up in a modest home with his brother Richard surrounded by Orange trees and lots of room to roam with the neighborhood kids. According to his High School yearbook, Bob was well known as a "cool cat". He was a well built, good looking young man who pursued a young and beautiful girl named Alice who accepted his consistent courtship and he was married at the age of twenty. A couple of years later he was a proud Pa Pa of his daughter Pam, and a few years after that his son Mike came along. Bob enjoyed working with people, it really didn't matter what he did.
He started in the family sign business in the late fifties and ventured off to franchising, helping businesses expand such as Taco Bell, Fotomat, Orange Julius, Conroy's Flowers, and La Salsa just to name a few. He was also an ambitious entrepreneur, starting several businesses throughout the years. One example is a restaurant he owned in La Jolla in the early 70's called The Sanctuary. Bob liked getting his family involved in his adventures, like having his kids gluing hundreds of corks to the overhang of the restaurant bar one at a time for weeks. Although his kids had very soar thumbs, it looked spectacular when it was done. Bob was always fond of the sign business as well, while other Dad's were coming home from work with dry cleaning, Bob would come home with a full-size Jack-in-the-Box head off a drive-thru menu. A very cool Dad indeed.
Bob also had another love during his life, the love of cars. Bob always kept pictures of his well maintained cars that he had owned throughout the years and found life more exciting appreciating the art and performance of a well made automobile. A history of photos including a 1941 Ford, a 1932 Deuce Coupe, and numerous other cars that would impress most car enthusiasts are included in his portfolio. Along with cars there was sailing as well. Bob loved the ocean. While he owned the restaurant he had a couple of Catamarans available to the employees as well as himself. He loved ripping across the water on one hull with his daughter hanging over the high edge in the "trapeze" to keep the boat upright, what a thrill. Recently, at the age of seventy, Bob took some physically demanding classes and obtained his license for larger boats.
Probably the greatest qualities that followed Bob through his life as a Father, Friend , or Co-Worker was his genuine ability to truly listen to what you were saying, and he always wanted to improve the quality of life of the people around him. If you had an old appliance, he would replace it. If your garden was dying, he would replant it. If your sidewalk was dirty, he would clean it. If you had a problem, he would stop and listen and take it to heart, and if he couldn't fix it, he would share the problem with you so you weren't alone. Bob was a man you could talk to about anything without fear of judgement. He was a enjoyable man to be with and his time here with us has been a precious gift from God. We will miss him until we join him once again.
