Obituary of Robert Earl Light

Bob was born July 10, 1934 in Bismarck, N.D. to Earl and Isabel Light. As a child, Bob's family lived in different locations, eventually making their home in Hayward, CA. Bob was a gifted athlete and played football while in Hayward High School and continued at Santa Rosa College and then on to play for the Spartans of San Jose State University. After graduation, Bob went to work at General Mills where he met the love of his life, LaVera (Vera). Before they knew it, they were marrying in Hawaii and moving to Nagoya, Japan. It was like a year-long honeymoon in Japan, but new job opportunities arose, and it was back to the U.S. After a brief stay in the San Fransisco area, the choice was made to move to Newcastle, Washington--where they bought a home and raised their family of four children. In the early 70s they discovered Stretch Island in South Puget Sound and they bought property with friends and built a cabin--where many fun summers were had by all. After 30+ years of working in the steel business and traveling the world, Bob retired in 1999 from Nissho Iwai America. In 2006, Bob and Vera sold the Newcastle home and permanently moved to their beautifully remodeled Stretch Island home. Post retirement would find Bob and Vera enjoying cruising, traveling and wonderful winters in Palm Springs, CA.-where they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary, March 29, 2013. If one word could be used to describe Bob it would be "Gentleman". His love for family and friends and integrity of spirit would shine out of his twinkling blue eyes and his smile would light the room. With his great sense of humor in play he's smiling right now.