BEVERLY: Robert A. “Bob” LaForge, 74, died Thursday, January 22, 2009 in the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. He was the husband of Nancy L. (Burke) LaForge.
Born in Salem on July 15, 1934, he was the son of the late Alfred J. and Evelyn M. (Leveille) LaForge. He was a graduate of Salem High School and had attended Beverly Cooperative Trade School and the Wentworth Institute of Technology. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, he was honorably discharged from active duty as a Corporal in March 1955. He continued in the reserves until 1960. He was a resident of Beverly for the past forty-five years.
Mr. LaForge was employed as a mechanical designer at Sylvania for twenty-five years before retiring in 1992. He had also once worked at the United Shoe Machinery Corp. for several years.
He was an active member of St. John the Evangelist Church in Beverly, a life member of the Reading Rifle & Revolver Club and a member of the National Rifle Assoc. and the Vittori-Rocci Post #56 of Beverly.
In addition to his wife of forty-seven years, Bob is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Ryan Andrachik of Hudson, Ohio, two sons, Brian LaForge of Brockton and Michael LaForge of Beverly, four beloved grandchildren, Victoria, Vincie, Alexia and Nadia, a sister, Margaret and her husband, Philip Walker of Santa Cruz, CA, a brother-in-law, Ralph and his wife, Jean Burke of Wakefield and many nieces and nephews.
His funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday in St. John the Evangelist Church, New Balch St., Beverly at 10:30 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Sunday in the Grondin Funeral Home, 376 Cabot Street, Beverly from 2 – 5 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to the charity of one's choice. Interment will be held in the St. Mary’s Cemetery, Salem.