sheila and Larry Nimmerrichter
There is a poem that says that the real value of your life is right there in that little dash between your date of birth and date of death on your headstone . All of us who knew Bob McInturff certainly knew that he packed that dash full to both ends. When Larry and I first met Bob we were incredulous at all he said that he had done …(we were really more than a little suspicious that secretly he was Walter Mitty and had a very vivid imagination) but, slowly one by one, accomplishment by accomplishment we discovered that he spoke the truth and most of us know that he could tell you the brutal truth at times. He was genuine…straight forward and never one to be politically correct. Yes sir, you knew where you stood with this man. Often he said what we were thinking and wouldn't say... He told us that he was in a band…check…that he owned a gas station, check, that he was a champion water skier, check, that he was a pilot …check…that he worked the pit crew at the Nascar race and that is a check. His accomplishments were endless.…Larry and I secretly called him the big giant head after the tv character because no matter what we were doing he knew the shortcut or had a connection that knew the shortcut, had the inside scoop, etc. We did not need GPS, all we did was call Bob and he gave us the simple way to get there and suggested a few special stops to try the “whatever” special thing he knew about the area. He should have had a business named "Call Bob first"...
At any time Bob had ten balls in the air..his job, his buddy for lunch, stop for a drink with a friend, get the Corvette fixed and make sure he was doing something special for someone he was going to see over the weekend .. His mind was like a whirlwind…he took Melissa’s Karmen Ghia engine out and rebuilt it and put it back in an afternoon..he did more in a day than most could accomplish in a week and he always delivered on what he said and made it look effortless.
He was just trotting through life boating, traveling, hanging with the boys at the hunt club, rebuilding a car or maybe having a crown and coke too many when out of the blue along came beautiful Maryann. It was good to see him give his heart away…..and he did you know….. right out loud he said “ I am in love” …I thought this is the real deal as this was an
un-BOB-like thing to say. She got him, she made a home for him, she gave him a family and they made him a PopPop…he loved those kids with all his heart and took such pride in all they did. Because of them he had a family.
To say that he was a force of nature is something each of you who knew him knows, so when he was in the whirlwind of trying to get well I thought no matter how sick he was that he could force this almost impossible healing. ” When a call came for the first round of sepsis and we thought he was a goner…two days later found us having a conversation like that was someone else we saw in the hospital near death. When the doctor said you are not well enough for a transplant because of your heart…..Bob says “let’s get it done” His heart now improved he began battering the doctor for a kidney,..first kidney turned up a dead end, but, undeterred, he took on the risk to take a kidney that was not the first choice for others. Then cancer on the forehead..he insisted on repair…and although there was question of his strength to endure… endure it he did. He once again began the relentless pursuit of skin graft to close the wound (afterall a great vacation was looming) and we now know sadly, that his story on earth ended here. Another round of sepsis was one too many. This bionic man (as my husband called him) would finally see the light of mortality. I’ll bet even God was surprised to see him.
The air sucked from this earth at that moment and a hole the size of a nuclear blast found it’s way beneath his family and friends. I had thought that he was pushing those doctors for perfection and what I came to understand was that he was fighting for the life he so loved.. a life that he found later than many, that his love for Maryann and his new family was so deep and so great that the length of their time together was not the measurement to judge what they had ..the measurement was the depth, the breadth of their love.
Few who knew him will question the reach of this unforgettable human being. I know he soars among the stars..RIP buddy…we will miss you always.
(Wish I could set this to the music of Thanks for the Memories )...
Thursday April 27, 2017 at 1:30 pm