Robert "Bob" Bruce Steimer

Robert “Bob” Bruce Steimer, age 87, of Grants Pass, died Friday, January 22, 2010.

A memorial graveside service will be at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 26, 2010 at Eagle Point National Cemetery. Hull & Hull Funeral Directors are in charge of arrangements.

Bob was born December 14, 1922 in Huntington Beach, California. On September 7, 1943 at the Josephine County Courthouse he married Virginia Thrasher, who survives.

As a Naval officer, they lived in Corpus Christi, Texas; Brunswick, Maine and Jacksonville and Miami, Florida. In 1945, after discharge from the service, they moved to Kerby, Oregon. Then in 1960 they moved to Grants Pass.

Bob was a radioman and quartermaster on the cruisers Concord and Richmond prior to World War II. When the war started he became a Naval aviator flying patrol planes in antisubmarine defense in the South Atlantic.

In civilian life Bob was a well-known barber in the Illinois Valley. Following in the footsteps of his father-in-law, George Thrasher, Bob accepted the job of Josephine County Watermaster in 1959 as well as serving as Water Resources Regional Manager until retirement in 1991.

Bob had many hobbies which included everything from carpentry to electrical work to music and playing the organ. He especially enjoyed his family of four generations.

Survivors include his wife, Virginia Steimer of Grants Pass; a son, Robert B. Steimer and his wife Farima of Kirkland, Washington; two daughters, Loraine and her husband Vince, and Gloria Steimer of Grants Pass; one brother, Jim Pickard and his wife Lynn of Placerville, California; eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

A brother, Walt Steimer and his parents, Albert J. Steimer and Jane H. Hill died before him.