Newburyport - Robert left us unexpectedly on April 23rd, breaking the hearts of the many people who loved and cherished him.

Bob grew up in Lowell and studied engineering at Lowell Technological Institute. In 1968 he chose to leave school and enter the Army. He was selected to train as a nurse (clinical specialist) at the Brooke General Hospital, Fort Sam Houston in Texas and received further certification in Emergency Medical Care and Treatment. Upon graduation, he was deployed to Vietnam where he care for injured soldiers in a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital for one year. After being honorably discharged he received his civilian nursing license and worked for six years at Shriner's Hospital in Boston in a pediatric intensive care setting. Bob put his heart into helping and comforting those very ill children. He went on to work for many years in a psychiatric setting until his retirement in 2010.

Bob loved gardening. His home and yard were always filled with lush plants and flowers. He found great joy in working at the Maudslay State Park, where he served a a volunteer gardener for 12 years. He loved the people he worked with at Maudslay Art Center. Bob and his dear friend Cynthia Costello would be selecting the flowers to plant there now, if he were still here.

Bob was an avid reader and philosopher of life. A multi-talented man, he wrote fiction and played classical guitar. I can still hear his lovely rendition of The Beatles "Blackbird". He loved his cat, Rocky, and was a great cat parent.

Bob will be loved and missed by his mother, Bella Schledwitz of Amesbury, his brother, William and his wife, Susan Schledwitz of Wadsworth, Ohio, and his sister, Barbara and her husband, Daniel Fischbach of Hull. Our thanks to his dear friends who have reached out to us. You give us great comfort during this difficult time.

There will be a private family service.

Donations in Bob's memory may be made to the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Shelter, 63 Elm St. (Rt. 110), Salisbury, MA, 978-462-0760.