Robert Contolini

Robert Contolini Obituary

Rob was born in Bridgeport, CT on September 14, 1950. He lived in Fairfield, CT with his parents and three sisters. He was a mischievous kid, always doing pranks on his sisters. His love for chemistry began when he was young. He had his own little lab in his family’s basement getting chemicals through the mail that his parents signed for, not even knowing what he was ordering. Luckily, he was very careful and took all precautions, not blowing up the house. In 1968, he left home to attend Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve) for college in Cleveland, Ohio. He thought going to Cleveland was going “out west.” Little did he know, one day he would spend the last days of his life in the real “out west,” in California and Oregon.

In Cleveland, he met Judy at a school dance. Judy went to an all women’s college and Rob went to an engineering school, which was mostly men. This is when Judy learned about Rob’s adventurous spirit and quirky sense of humor. The courtship was five years until he proposed to her. He was in the Air Force ROTC which was fortunate because in the draft lottery in 1969 he won: he was #1. Because he was in ROTC, he was able to finish college.

After college he was commissioned as an officer and served his country as an air traffic controller, bringing airplanes together in the sky for refueling. He was stationed mostly in the south: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. His remote assignment was a year in Taegu (now Daegu), South Korea, on top of a mountain. Every day he had off from work he ventured down the mountain and experienced the Korean culture and mingled with the people. In his last year in the service, he and Judy married and lived on the Air Force base in Sumter, South Carolina.

After serving his country, he began his next adventure. He entered graduate school for his doctorate in physical chemistry at The Ohio State University. Besides all the hard work, it was like a six year honeymoon for him and Judy. They not only loved each other but were also best friends. They had each other.

After receiving his doctorate, he and Judy moved to Summit, New Jersey, where he took a job with Bell Labs. This is where their family began with the birth of Jeff and Chris. The two little boys were the love of his life. After five years in NJ, he was offered a job at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore, CA. He couldn’t pass it up so off they went across the country to start the next adventure. It was a little bit of a culture shock for Judy, so she decided to stay home full time with the boys. The family enjoyed so many experiences together: Christmas each year in Lake Tahoe (we had to have snow on Christmas), trips to Yosemite, camping and bike trips down the coast in Monterey, Big Sur, Carmel, Disneyland, San Francisco, Mount Shasta, and Angel Island to name a few. Whenever we were in the snow, he had to build an igloo. He and the boys went on many Cub Scout trips and every trip was a learning experience. He always had to explain and show them, and everyone with them, a science related activity. He was always sharing his love for science to everyone in a fun way.

After three years in CA, Gina was born. They were thrilled to now have a little girl. Judy couldn’t think of a name, so she let Rob name her. He picked Gina, after Dennis the Menace’s girlfriend (so typical of Rob). They continued their family adventures in California for six more years, including things like trips to Tahoe for Christmas, until they made their final family move to Lake Oswego, OR when Rob got a job with Novellus Systems, in the semiconductor industry. Here he continued entertaining the family and friends with spontaneous science experiments, sometimes to the family’s great chagrin. He continued to help with the boys’ scout troops as well as several outdoor adventures with Gina’s Girl Scout troop. It was in these years when symptoms of his dementia slowly surfaced.

As the years drew on, the boys graduated high school and left for college, and Gina started high school. Rob’s behavior became more and more eccentric and unpredictable, and the family had a difficult time dealing with him. He was no longer respectful and considerate with his science experiments and silly inventions, insisting on everyone’s attention to observe trite and uninteresting demonstrations. After working about six years for Novellus, he was fired. We now know this happened because of his disease: frontotemporal degeneration (FTD). FTD is a degenerative disease with no treatment that affects a person’s social behavior, personality, and language.

This journey in life began when he was in his early 50s and lasted about 15 years. With God’s grace, the family stayed strong and hopeful. The disease slowly progressed, and as he got worse, losing speech and the ability to deal with his physical needs, Judy became his home caregiver. This involved an incredible amount of devotion because in order to support him and herself, she also took a full time job. Thankfully, their three children gave their mother outstanding support in helping with his care, allowing her vacations such as a trip to Italy and a trip down the Mississippi River. Judy was on this latter trip when Rob was at home with his son and died in his sleep on the morning of September 23, 2016.

Visitation and the rosary will be Wednesday evening, 7 pm, September 29, at Riverview Abbey Funeral Home, 0319 SW Taylors Ferry Rd, Portland, OR 97219. Mass of Christian burial is Thursday, September 29, 11 am at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 650 A Street, Lake Oswego, 97034 (corner of A Avenue and 8th Street). Because of his love of science, his brain was donated to the OHSU to help them learn more about his disease. In his memory, please consider making a donation to OHSU Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center or the AFTD. Your prayers, thoughts, and condolences are also very important to us and appreciated.

To donate to OHSU: The Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center
c/o OHSU Foundation
1121 SW Salmon St. Suite 200
Portland, OR 97205

To donate to AFTD: www.theaftd.org. There is a donation tab on this website.
Born: September 14, 1950 Death: September 23, 2016

Mass of Christian Burial

Thursday September 29, 2016 , 11:00 AM at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church

Visitation and the rosary will be Wednesday evening, 7 pm, September 29, at Riverview Abbey Funeral Home, 0319 SW Taylors Ferry Rd, Portland, OR 97219. Share your thoughts and memories in the guestbook.

to OHSU Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center or the AFTD.

Services

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One reply on “Robert Contolini”

John Alexy
My condolences to all who feel the loss from the passing of Rob. I had the pleasure of working with Rob for several years at Novellus. He was always a cheery soul. Joking and laughing and generally enjoying life. I recall his love of Puns.

I remember one story of his backpacking trip with his sons Scout troop. It was like 50 miles in 4 days. Hood to the Gorge I think. I had done it a few years before in 8 days. I remember they stopped early short of the goal, tired and beat, but he was laughing while telling the tale.

It was clear to all who knew Rob, his love of life.

God bless his soul, and prayers to Judy and his family.

10/12/2016
Neal Cox
I had the pleasure of working with Rob while he was at both Lawrence Livermore and Novellus. He was such a bright, creative person and always a pleasure to work with. My condolences to all. His memory will live on, even as his faded.

10/11/2016
D. Harris

Dear Family,
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your dear loved one and send you my sincere condolences. May you find comfort from God’s word at Revelation 21:3,4 and John 5:28,29. Heartfelt prayers are with you and your family.