I am sad that we have lost Bob Bertholf. I was in touch with him only through high school. But a flood of memories returned when I read of his death.
Bob was a fine athlete. I remember skating with Bob and Roger Semerad on Belden's Pond, passing a hockey puck between us making imaginary plays against phantom opponents. He usually, but not always, beat me at ping-pong when we played in the attic of the Bertholf residence on Pinewoods Avenue. Loki, the family dog, sometimes accompanied us.
Bob was tenacious in athletics and in life. This was proven in 1953 (?), when he was taken out of all sports by a "slipped epiphysis" (see http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00052 ). Surgery was required to set a steel pin into his hip, and many weeks were spent in recovery. Before he could walk again Bob resumed playing baseball behind Public School 16. He played catcher by sitting on top of a wooden soda crate, his crutches on the ground beside him. At 8th grade graduation, Bob received special recognition from Mr. Lyons, the Principal.
It did not surprise me to learn, years later, that Bob had majored in English literature with a special focus on poetry. This made sense because Bob responded particularly strongly to narratives of life stories; and such narratives are the stuff of much literature and poetry. His insight into the importance of narrative was evident to me from conversations about certain movies (sorry, I can't remember titles) that we saw together. His accomplishments in poetry are amply documented on-line, for instance in the obituary on the Robert Graves Society website (http://www.robertgraves.org/society/news.php?id=69&group_id=4 ).
The death of a friend from long ago is troubling in many ways. I suspect that Bob and I had more in common than we realized in grade- or high-school. But those interests will never be explored - too bad! The best I know to do is keep the memory of what was good and wholesome, and use it to navigate the future.
Charles Seibert
In Memory of Bob Bertholf
(1940 - 2016)
I am sad that we have lost Bob Bertholf. I was in touch with him only through high school. But a flood of memories returned when I read of his death.
Bob was a fine athlete. I remember skating with Bob and Roger Semerad on Belden's Pond, passing a hockey puck between us making imaginary plays against phantom opponents. He usually, but not always, beat me at ping-pong when we played in the attic of the Bertholf residence on Pinewoods Avenue. Loki, the family dog, sometimes accompanied us.
Bob was tenacious in athletics and in life. This was proven in 1953 (?), when he was taken out of all sports by a "slipped epiphysis" (see http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00052 ). Surgery was required to set a steel pin into his hip, and many weeks were spent in recovery. Before he could walk again Bob resumed playing baseball behind Public School 16. He played catcher by sitting on top of a wooden soda crate, his crutches on the ground beside him. At 8th grade graduation, Bob received special recognition from Mr. Lyons, the Principal.
It did not surprise me to learn, years later, that Bob had majored in English literature with a special focus on poetry. This made sense because Bob responded particularly strongly to narratives of life stories; and such narratives are the stuff of much literature and poetry. His insight into the importance of narrative was evident to me from conversations about certain movies (sorry, I can't remember titles) that we saw together. His accomplishments in poetry are amply documented on-line, for instance in the obituary on the Robert Graves Society website (http://www.robertgraves.org/society/news.php?id=69&group_id=4 ).
The death of a friend from long ago is troubling in many ways. I suspect that Bob and I had more in common than we realized in grade- or high-school. But those interests will never be explored - too bad! The best I know to do is keep the memory of what was good and wholesome, and use it to navigate the future.
Charles Seibert
Michael Radz (D. Ed)
Mike Radz
Bob was a great friend, classmate, and teammate. As we pass through life, there aree people who leave a lasting impress. Bob was one of those people.