Statistics
Bob was born on Monday, September 9, 1935, at 9:35 a.m. and Christened Robert Jack Robertus. He was delivered at home by a Midwife. Bob had an older brother Leonard born in 1933 and a younger sister born in 1939. On August 21, 2013, Bob died at his home in Alma, Nebraska and was cremated. His ashes were inerned in the head stone in Lincoln Memorial Park.
Places He Lived
For the first 11 years of his life, his family lived in a house in an area that was known as the North Russian Bottoms. The address was 349 South First Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. His Dad bought the home from his mother and step father. The majority of the population of the North Bottoms were immigrants from Russia. Bob's mother was born in Lincoln, Nebraska; however, his dad was born in Russia.
When reminiscing, Bob refers to this house as the First Street House. He describes it, "The house only had three rooms; a bedroom, a middle room which was where my brother and I slept, and the kitchen. There was no inside plumbing or central heating. My mom cooked on a wood-burning cook stove. The bathroom was the Outhouse. I always hated it if I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night during the cold winter months. Bath night was once a week. Mom heated hot water on the cook stove, poured it into a large tub and my brother, my sister and I took turns getting our bath with Marilyn going first."
Salt Creek and the C B & Q railroad were practically in the back yard. Bob recalls, "I was looking out the back window of the house and said to myself, "Someday I'm going to work on that railroad. Guess I was a prophet."
336 B Street
When Bob was about 11, the family moved to the house at 336 B Street, still located in the South Russian Bottoms. There was one bedroom upstairs, and a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bath on the main floor. There was inside plumbing and a coal furnace for heat. The basement was finished well enough that Bob and his brother shared a bedroom until Leonard went into the Service. His mom also had a small kitchen in the basement she could use for baking and canning during the hot summer months.
