Robert T. Day of West Long Branch died at home Sept. 8. He was 88.
Born in Long Branch, Bob was raised in West Long Branch. After graduating from Long Branch High school, he served in the U.S. Navy for four years during the Korean War, spending most of his service on aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean. He was married to the former Joan Vincelli of Long Branch for 68 years. They had five children, nine grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. At the time of his passing, Joan and he lived in the West Long Branch home they had lived in together since 1962.
Bob was the only child of Elmira (Van Dyke) and George Day; three brothers before him didn’t survive infancy. Bob, known as Bobby to his friends, lived most of his early life in Long Branch and West Long Branch, with periods in Detroit and Western Pennsylvania with relatives. Bob attended Wall Street School in West Long Branch and graduated from Long Branch High School, playing baseball for three years. He enjoyed the friendship of numerous Van Dyke relatives nearby like Skippy, Stanley, Spanky and Marlene and his uncles Flavil, Morris and Woody.
At LBHS he met his future wife Joan, who was 2 years behind him. Bob and Joan were engaged while Joan was at the end of her senior year of high school and Bob was home on leave from the Navy.
Bob served in the Korean War. He did basic training in Bremner, Washington, and was assigned duty on aircraft carriers including the USS Point Cruz and the USS Hancock. Tours of duty took him to Japan, South Korea, Pearl Harbor and the West Coast of the U.S. While on leave he married Joan at Star of the Sea Church in Long Branch on January 10, 1954, having converted to Roman Catholicism to share Joan’s faith. After a brief honeymoon at Mt. Airy Lodge, he returned to service.
After leaving the Navy he worked for a time in his mother and step-father’s bar, Schroeder’s Bar and Grill on Oceanport Ave. in West Long Branch, which is now the site of Zachary’s. He later was hired at AT&T’s New Jersey Bell, serving as a lineman for the majority of his 35 years before spending his final years as a foreman and project manager.
In retirement Bob enjoyed golfing – especially with his former brother-in-law Phil Grandinetti – driving with Joan to visit his kids in Texas, Arizona, Florida, Ohio, as well as attending Navy ship’s reunions around the U.S. He loved breakfast and visits with now deceased pals like Donny and Pudgie Sullivan, Bob and Hope Durkin and his surviving first cousin Stanley Van Dyke and his wife Jean Van Dyke.
Years ago he enjoyed good times with his friends at the former Nick’s Bar on Broadway, the Splish Splash and the Dugout lounges in Oceanport. Tending his yard and garden, watching the Yankees and New York Giants (he held Giants’ season tickets for around 40 years, from when they played at the Polo Grounds until the early 1990s when the team at the Meadowlands forced season ticket holders to buy seat licenses), and chatting with his Golf Street neighbors were among the ways he liked to spend his time.
Bob was also engaged with the community as a West Long Branch Little League coach (Chiefs) and a coach for the West Long Branch-Oceanport Sharks Pop Warner football.
He is survived by his daughter Donna Rose and her husband Jack of Holly Hills, Florida along with Donna’s daughter Erin Hardy; daughter Diane Day of Long Branch and her children Christine Carrasquillo and Eric Urban; son Robert and his wife Toby of Austin, TX and Robert’s children Dylan, Spencer and Gabriel; son Ron and his wife Pamela of Somerville, NJ and their son Marcus; and son Don of Little Switzerland, NC and his children Bobby and Maddie. He’s also survived by 3 great-grandchildren, Gyanna, Olivia and Easton.
Relatives and friends are invited to visit from 4-7 pm Sunday at the Fiore Funeral Home, 882 Broadway, West Long Branch. A graveside service will be held on Monday at 11 am at Woodbine Cemetery, 14 Maple Ave., Oceanport. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Visiting Nurse Association of Central New Jersey at https://vnahg.org/giving/ For condolences, please visit www.fiorefuneralhomes.com.