Robert Roscoe Gunter

Robert Roscoe Gunter, also known as “Bobby” or “Bob” was born to Bessie S. James Gunter and William C. Gunter on May 12, 1935 in Glen Cove, New York. He was raised in Syosset, New York pretty much as an only child until he was fourteen and his niece Monica James was born and came to live with them and then his youngest sister Margaret was born the next year. His older sister Janice James grew up in Virginia and as adults they enjoyed a very close relationship. His parents lavished their love upon him; his father William was his hero and larger than life in Bob’s eyes and his mother was his favorite girl. Bob spent a lot of time with his mother’s sister Carrie James Sample and enjoyed a very close relationship with his cousins Charlie and Jean Sample who were like a brother and sister to him. He graduated from Oyster Bay High School after which he decided to serve his country by enlisting into the Army. He entered the Army in 1955 and during his tour of duty he attained the rank of Sergeant E-5 and served in the Korean War. It was while in Korea that he met another soldier, Marshall Ellis who became a life time friend. Upon returning to the states, Marshall introduced Bob to his girlfriend’s best friend, Carol Jones. It didn’t take long for Bob to fall in love and decide to leave the army to begin his life with his lady love. The story he told is that Carol went home to St. Thomas, VI to visit her family. The moment she came back, Bob asked her to marry him. Bob and Carol were married on January 31, 1960. They became the parents to two children Rodney and Donna. At that time, they were living in Brooklyn and decided they wanted to give their children greater opportunities, so they first moved to Oyster Bay, NY and then to Huntington Station, NY. They remained in Huntington Station for 20 years. During their time in Huntington Station Bob could be found corralling the neighborhood children to take them to the field at the nearby Jr High School to play softball or run relay races up and down the street or play football in the front yard. He would come out and challenge his son and his friends to basketball games on the court that they erected in the backyard or jump into the volleyball or badminton game that might be taking place. He passed this love of sports down to his children and always made himself available to attend their games. Bob was very competitive so there wasn’t any sport, card game or board game that he did not engage in with his children. He was also an avid bowler something the entire family enjoyed. It was often that the entire family would come together for Sunday dinner and then either go bowling, play cards, Pokeno or Dominoes. Bob and Carol continued bowling in leagues even after moving to Georgia. Soon after leaving the army, Bob went to work at Grumman Aerospace Corporation as an electrical engineer where he enjoyed 30 years of loving his job. The highlights of his career were working on one of the first Apollo lunar modules launched into space and the F-14 Tomcat, the first fighter plane with twin engines. He had pictures of the Tomcat all over the house and would talk about it to anyone who would listen. He was like a kid with a big toy. He loved to show clips of the tomcat landing on a Navy ship. It was something to behold. He retired from Grumman in 1990.

Tributes

Robert Roscoe Gunter

May 12, 1935 - April 1, 2019