BECKERLE, ROBERT - Robert J. (Bob) Beckerle, 59, resident of Pearl River, NY, and Waitsfield, VT, died Sunday, October 19. He was the youngest son of the late Joseph A. and Edith Keller Beckerle. He graduated from St. Margaret's School in Pearl River and Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ before earning his BS in Civil Engineering from Norwich University, a military college in Northfield, Vermont, and his Maters in Construction Management from Oklahoma State University. Bob was the Director of Environmental Management and Engineering for the Town of Orangetown. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Director for Sewer Operations for Rockland County. He was the vice-president of Beckerle and Brown Construction, a family-owned business in Pearl River, and a partner in Phoenix Excavators in West Nyack. A Certified Professional Engineer, he was a past president of the Rockland County Professional Engineers Association and a member of the NY Water Environment Association. He was the secretary of the Pearl River Rotary Club. Bob was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1967 through 1970. He was stationed in Japan and in Korea, where he provided engineering and construction support to US government agencies and military bases in the area. He was an accomplished glider pilot and member of the Sugarbush Soaring Association. An avid skier, he helped coach downhill racing at the Green Mountain Valley School. For several years, he was the Scout Master for Troup 36 in Pearl River. He was a member of the Nyack Boat Club and an enthusiastic skipper of his sailboat, Bobby's Girl II. Bob is survived by his wife of 32 years, Evelyn; his son, Robert; a brother, Ronald, and his wife, Miriam, in Pearl River; and a sister, Phyllis Beckerle Keese, in Zephyr, Texas. Visiting hours will be October 22 from 3 to 5 and from 7 to 9 PM at the Wyman-Fisher Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Margaret's Church at 11 AM on Thursday, October 23. He will be interred at Dole Hill Cemetery at Norwich University with full military color guard, on Saturday October 25, at 10:30 AM In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Pearl River Rotary Scholarship Foundation, PO Box 252, Pearl River, NY 10965. WYMAN-FISHER FUNERAL HOME INC. 100 Franklin Avenue Pearl River 845-735-2161
Published: Wednesday, October 22nd, 2003