Robert Gilbert Holmgren (July 26, 1958 – January 25, 2021)
Robert (Bob), cherished husband, father, brother, uncle, godfather, and friend passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by his wife and three children on January 25, 2021 after an 18-month battle with advanced-stage prostate cancer.
Bob was born on July 26, 1958 in Melrose, Massachusetts as the second son of Horace (Hoagy) and Joan Holmgren, where Hoagy was stationed with the United States Coast Guard. As a Coast Guard Officer, Hoagy had to move the family every 2 - 4 years, so Bob moved a lot growing up. After starting his adventures in Massachusetts, the family’s first move was to the west coast – Coos Bay, Oregon. Two years later, the family moved back to the east coast, to Kensington, MD where Bob started elementary school. Four years later it was once again off to the west coast landing the Holmgren’s in Los Alamitos, CA for two years during which Hoagy deployed with his ship to Vietnam for 10 months. Bob and John spent many weekends fishing down on the Seal Beach pier, or at the local park playing baseball and football. In 1969 the family moved to Concord, California where Bob attended Oak Grove Middle School and then Ygnacio Valley High School. Bob and John enjoyed riding their bikes 10 miles each way to Lafayette reservoir to go fishing. They were both in the Boy Scouts in Concord where Bob achieved the rank of Life. In 1975 Hoagy was transferred to Honolulu, Hawaii at the end of Bob’s Junior year in high school, enabling Bob to do his senior year at Kalani High School. Bob made the most of his senior year enjoying the beaches, learning to body surf, and playing lots of tennis with his Dad. One summer Bob and John worked in landscaping together and Bob worked after school at the local McDonalds where they told him he had “management potential”.
Bob met the love of his life, Kathleen, while both were attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He met Kathleen during their freshman year in the Industrial Engineering department. It was an intimate department with less than 100 students, so everyone got to know each other very well both inside and outside of class. At that time the ratio of men to women was pretty high - for every 80 men there would be at most 10 women (a real problem from Bob’s perspective). Therefore, most outings included several guys in the department with Kathleen in tow. As a result, Bob and Kathleen became best friends before they even thought about dating. Finally, 4 years later at graduation, Bob asked Kathleen out to dinner to say goodbye, since his plan was to relocate to Northern California and Kathleen was relocating to Southern California. That “goodbye” date proved to be the start of their love story. Bob ended up moving to Southern California after graduation to work for Flying Tigers and Kathleen worked for Price Waterhouse in management consulting. On August 28, 1982, the two were married with over 400 people in attendance at their wedding in Fillmore, CA and his brother John was Bob’s best man. Vera Marostica – Kathleen’s mom, and their friends made spaghetti sauce for the Italian Dinner, which was served to all at the reception. It was such a party and everyone had so much fun that the band didn’t want to leave and ended up being late for their next gig.
Bob and Kathleen decided to attend graduate school for their MBAs in the fall of 1983. Both were accepted to UCLA, Kathleen to Stanford and Bob to U.C. Berkeley. They decided to move to Northern California, and lived with and cared for Bob’s grandmother, Blanche, while attending their respective schools. Upon graduation, they purchased their first home in Pleasanton, CA and Bob went to work for Clorox in Brand Management while Kathleen joined a small start-up company, Sun Microsystems.
Bob’s greatest love in his life, beyond his wife, was his family. Allison was born in 1987, Thomas in 1989, and Sarah in 1993. They moved to Livermore in 1988 where Bob learned all about putting in an irrigation system and landscaping their ½ acre lot. Life was busy raising 3 children in a two-career family. In 1997, Bob made the decision to leave the corporate world working for Grace Sierra, as he did not want to move to Ohio when the company was acquired by OM Scotts. Instead, he ran a marketing consulting business out of the home and was available to help the kids with their homework when they came home from school. After the move to Pleasanton in 1999, Bob really embraced being a ‘Stay-at-Home Dad’ – constantly running carpools, being the favorite on school field-trips, and bringing dinners to late night marching band practices and volleyball games. Bob learned calculus, chemistry, and physics three times over in helping each child master the subject in high school. Due to Bob’s efforts, Allison, Tom and Sarah all excelled in school and developed great study habits (well, maybe not Tom).
In the true spirit of balance, Bob was also the biggest advocate of travel – domestic and abroad. After his epic European backpack adventure with his friends following graduation at Cal Poly, Kathleen and Bob enjoyed trips to New Zealand, Hawaii, Prague, and Cabo. Over the years, the family was blessed to explore and enjoy amazing vacations all over the world – Hawaii, Australia, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Tahoe, and Mexico, just to name some favorites. He and Kathleen especially enjoyed renting (and then eventually buying) an RV to get away and enjoy nature, most often with friends. Bob intuitively knew that he had to make the most of the time he had and thereby ensured he gave his family a lot of amazing memories.
Bob’s favorite hobbies were fishing and golfing. His dad taught him at a young age how to fish the streams and oceans with a rod and reel. Later in life, his good friend Ron Lloyd introduced him to fly fishing and he was hooked. To return the favor, Bob got Ron hooked on golf. Bob and Ron planned countless trips to Montana, Alaska, and Mexico in search of rainbow trout, salmon and bluefin tuna. They both passed these passions to their sons and enjoyed many father-son trips over the years.
Countless people have sent their remembrances of Bob, and time and time again they mention his warm and infectious smile, his deep love for his family, the sense of always feeling welcomed in his presence, and his positive aura of fun and humor. He loved spending quality time with others, whether that was chatting on the phone, over dinner, or with a reel in his hand.
With Bob’s passing Kathleen has lost her wing man...the man who was always there for her...loving her...planning amazing trips and adventures, being the king of the BBQ, and most of all being her pillar of support and encouragement in all of her endeavors. Bob Holmgren will be forever missed but never forgotten, as our memories will keep him alive within us until we see him again in the Glory of God.
Bob was preceded in death by his mom, Joan Hitchcock Holmgren. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, daughters Allison and Sarah, son Thomas, father Hoagy, brother John Holmgren and wife Marcia, brother-in-laws Dan and wife Judy, Mike and wife Mary, and nephews and nieces Erik, Andrew, Kelly, Mark and wife Deanna, Michael Jr and wife Debbie, Tom and wife Nicole, Carri and husband Patrick, Annie and husband Ed. His great nephews and nieces include Emily, Andrew, Megan, Lauren, Maya, Matteo, Jameson, Josephine, and Logan.
Arrangements are under the direction of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, 757 E. Main Street Ventura.