O. Robert "Bob" Berry

O. ROBERT 'BOB' BERRY...

Orville Robert 'Bob' Berry, 92, of St. Simmons Island, GA, died May 30, 2010 at Hospice of Golden Isles in Brunswick, GA. Bob was born April 18, 1918 to John & Marie Berry in Chicago, IL. He had one older brother, Hartland.

Bob was married to Luella 'Lu' (Winter) Berry who in 2002, after a 16 year battle with cancer, succumbed to the disease. Bob & Lu met in Denver, Colorado, fell in love, and were married June 3, 1945. Bob was a corporal in the United States Air Force during World War II and was stationed in Denver. Bob's tasks were to teach young recruits how to perfect using their weapons. Bob would story tell and one of his favorites was that of blind folding the recruits of whom had to dismantle their entire gun and reassemble it while still blind folded.

Bob loved Lu and his spirit was so full of love, life and energy for her. Lu loved to dance and Bob initially was not much of a dancer, but Lu got him on the dance floor even if it was on an old country road with the car radio turned up and Lu getting Bob to dance to the oldies, his favorite being the big band swing music.

Bob and Lu married after WWII and moved to Plainfield, NJ where they raised their young family while at the same time he became a rising superstar steel salesman during the post war building boom. Bob was instrumental in landing big steel contracts as part of the growth in building highways and high-rises. Bob received countless awards from his company, Morrison Steel. In 1967, Bob bought a motorhome which was a rare site back in those days. Bob and Lu loved traveling up & down the east coast with their family. Every other year, Bob, Lu and son, Scott, would drive from New Jersey to the Winter Family Reunion in Minnesota. One year Bob showed up with mini bikes strapped to the back of the motorhome which created a lot of fun memories. Bob loved to have fun and managed to do it differently. His children loved him for how outgoing he was and the adventures sought.

In 1974, the economy took a turn and with it so did the steel industry resulting in Morrison Steel going bankrupt due to competition with foreign products at discount prices. Bob was a survivor and started his own steel company brokering orders. He named the company after his youngest son, Scott's Steel Service.

Bob & Lu raised their children, Linda, Jeff & Scott in Plainfield, NJ. When Scott left home for college, Bob & Lu moved to a beach house they bought in Manasquan, NJ. They loved being near the beach and they had a beautiful yard that Bob loved to putter around getting the grass green and the flowers blooming. He continued to build his steel business.

In 1988, Bob & Lu sought to retire on St. Simons Island where their oldest son, Jeff, resided. After moving to the island, they were very social and hosted many dinner parties. They really enjoyed themed mystery parties and Lu loved to cook. Bob learned full retirement was not for him so he worked part time selling advertising for the local island paper. If not working, you could find him doing projects like building a deck in the yard to host more guests for their dinner parties.
When Lu passed away in 2002, Bob bought a red Firebird convertible and would often be seen driving down the streets of St. Simons, top down, sporting his flat top crew cut & aviator sunglasses while playing his favorite big band music reminiscing the days of dancing with Lu.

Bob's hearing was not so good, but the small town of St. Simons did not mind when Bob came driving down the street with all that big band music playing as loud as can be while boasting his USAF sticker, often a conversation starter with those that served in the military. He loved parking down by the pier and talking to older gentlemen of his age or just sitting back and chatting with the locals and summer tourists. He was very gregarious in that regard and loved people and sharing stories.

Bob also loved cars and planes. Cars and their body lines were fascinating to him. The art of flight and planes simply fascinated him. Bob had artistic skills himself so in his younger years he loved to draw pictures of some of the old classic planes from WWII and the cars representative of the era. Bob loved his family and was a strong advocate of an education. Although Bob never went to college, it was important that he sent all his children. He was very proud knowing his sons, Jeff & Scott, became practicing attorneys. Bob was never shy about showing his love and pride for his family while living a full life of 92 years. He was loved dearly by his family and forever missed in his wisdom and love.

Bob leaves one daughter, Linda Kay Berry of Asbury, New Jersey; one son, Robert 'Scott' (Melissa) Berry of Carlsbad, California and their children, Casey and Makenna; and one daughter-in-law, Jenny Berry of St. Simons Island, Georgia and her children, Megan, Craig, Jordan and Alex. At the time of his death, he was also survived by his son, Jeffrey Robert Berry who passed away on December 17, 2016 and grandson, Kevin who died on April 22, 2016. He was preceded in death by his loving wife, Luella; his parents; and one brother.