Robert F. Bardsley

January 16, 1926 - December 8, 2020

Robert Francis Bardsley, 94, of Boynton Beach FL and Harrington Park, NJ died on December 8, 2020 in Boynton Beach, Florida. Robert Bardsley was born in Yonkers, New York on January 16, 1926, the son of Joseph and Frances (Yonker) Bardsley. Bob attended PS 21 in Yonkers and Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx. Graduating early from high school Bob enrolled in the Naval ROTC program being conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY shortly after his seventeenth birthday. He studied and was awarded a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from RPI. This was one of the most influential periods of Bob's life and later on he recalled fondly the years in which he was "in the best shape of my life" and for which "the Navy was my mother and my father". Bobs post-ROTC training occurred at the Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale Florida where as one of the youngest ensigns in the Navy he trained in Anti-Submarine Warfare and Naval Air Squadron support. Listening to Bobs stories about this period one sensed that it was during this time that he developed the quiet confidence that would carry him through the rest of his life. After the war Bob joined the workforce as an engineer with the Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet company in Yonkers and obtained his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. If you were to ask him though he might tell you that his most enjoyable memory of that period was a multi-month sailing trip that he took on his beloved Flamingo sailboat up to and around the New England coast with his good friend Steve Foley. Sailing would remain a love of his for life and he would own a boat of one kind or another for most all of his adult life. The real love of Bobs life though was Mary O'Shaughnessy who he met at a St. Nicholas of Tolentine church dance in the Bronx soon after returning from his sailing hiatus. By then Bob was working for General Foods Corporation. Immediately smitten, but accompanied by a date, Bob later secured Mary's number from a mutual friend and called her. Mary would always interject at this point in his story to say - "Who brings a date to a church mixer?" This was the beginning of a beautiful relationship as they were married in October of 1953 and have remained happily so for over 67 years. After marrying, Bob and Mary resided in Crestwood, NY and Hayward, CA before eventually settling in Harrington Park, NJ and remaining there for over 60 years. During that time Bob had a 30 year career with General Foods in which he was their Manager of Equipment Development and he and Mary raised their five children. In addition to sailing Bob loved the family "Farm" up in Lew Beach NY where he watched his grandchildren learn the joys of the Catskills the way he and his children had before them. Whether he and Mary were in Harrington Park, Lew Beach or down in Florida at their condo in Fort Myers there were always wonderful family gatherings that will give his family fond memories for the years to come. Bob will be remembered as a kind man with endless love for his family and endless curiosity for all things technical. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather, and loved dearly by his entire family. We will all miss him. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Raymond and Francis Bardsley, his brother Richard Bardsley and his wife Joy, his brother-in-law John O'Shaughessy, sister-in-law Claire Burke and just recently by cousins Helen Kearney and Joan Becker. Bob is survived by his wife Mary, children Robert Bardsley Jr. of Delray Beach, FL., Thomas Bardsley (Donna Ng) of Hawthorne, NY, John Bardsley (Jim Brubaker) of Brooklyn, NY, Anne Bardsley (Robin Rizzo) of Boynton Beach, FL, Kathleen Roughan (Paul) of Boynton Beach, FL, and grandchildren Stephen Pompeo, Christine Roughan, Patrick Roughan, Megan Roughan (Lake) and Katie Ross. He is also survived by cousins Bob Lee, Dan Lee, his sister-in-law Phyllis O'Shaughnessy and many nephews and neices including John O'Shaughnessy, Siobhan O'Shaughnessy, Gael O'Shaughnessy, Mavis O'Neill, John Bardsley, Judy Goings, Janice Cummings, Deb Bardsley, Eileen Burke, Jean-Marie Burke and Martin Burke.