Robert A. Honold

(With minimal revisions, the following is Bob Honold’s personally written story.)

Robert, or Bob, as everyone knew him, was born on April 20, 1935 in the tiny town of Beaufort, Missouri. He was the youngest child of Charles and Clara (nee Schroeder) and had two brothers (Leonard “Spitz” and Wilfred) and two sisters (Ruth Peters and Helen Randolph). His Dad owned the Honold Hardware store in Beaufort which opened for business in 1917. Bob attended a one-room schoolhouse for eight years and then went to Union High School, graduating in 1953. He worked at the hardware store for three years before enlisting in the U.S. Army to “see the world.”

After basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, he attended a cartographic drafting class at Fort Belvoir, VA, graduating first in his class. His first assignment in Washington, D. C. happened to be in a building primarily occupied by CIA employees. When his three-year Army obligation ended, Bob was hired by the CIA, where he spent the next 31 years, retiring in 1990.

The most exciting period in his career was the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the country came very close to war with the Soviet Union. Thanks mostly to the imagery arriving every day from the U-2s and other aircraft flying over Cuba, the Agency monitored the shipment of Soviet missiles from Cuba back to the Soviet Union. The entire nation breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After retirement, Bob spent the next 15 years in a second career as a contractor for the Boeing Company before embarking on his third and final career as a volunteer at Mount Vernon, just three miles from home. The work came without a paycheck yet proved to be one of the most rewarding and enjoyable chapters of his life. Over the years, he devoted more than 2,000 hours to the historic estate.

Since Bob’s father passed away while he was still in high school, he was unable to go to college at the usual time of life. Always interested in art, he enrolled in a correspondence course in commercial art while working at the hardware store. While in the Army, he attended night classes at the Corcoran School of Art in D.C. Then, at the age of 48, after years of attending correspondence courses, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Upper Iowa University. Persistence does pay dividends.

On the family side of the story, Bob married his first wife Lois Gieselman in 1959. Son Paul joined the family in 1961, daughters Pamela in 1962 and Joan in 1967. Paul went to Virginia Tech, married his classmate, Nancy Snyder, moved to Florida and have two children, Erin and Matthew. Pamela also graduated from Virginia Tech, married her high school classmate, Steven Grimes, and they have two children, Andrew and Lindsay. Joan graduated from James Madison University, married John Paciga, a classmate from New Jersey and they also have two children, John and Jill. What a blessing when kids and grandkids turn out so well!

After more than 30 years of marriage, Bob and Lois parted ways — but love found him again, and in 1998 he married Carol Potts. An Alexandria native, Carol and Bob were both, at different times over the years, members of Immanuel Lutheran in Alexandria, Bethany Lutheran in Groveton, and St. John’s Lutheran on Franconia Road.

After a career in Crystal City at a small patent and copyright business, Carol also became a Mount Vernon volunteer. She had two daughters from her first marriage. Julie went to Valparaiso University and Indiana University, married David Grindle and they have two boys, Will and Tom. Sharon graduated from UVA and the University of Chicago, married Joe Apricena and they have our final grandchild, Samantha (number 9), in this extended family.

Bob’s main hobby was vegetable gardening, especially tomatoes, with neighbors and church members enjoying the surplus that he shared. And finally, there is music - singing in the choir of every church he was ever a member of. Bob counted music as vitally important to his faith and life. He especially loved the Holden Evening Prayer service and was often the cantor.

On Friday, March 27, at 90 years old, Bob joined the church triumphant and now sings with the heavenly host. What a glorious finish to a long, blessed life.

Notes and updates from family: While our Dad and “Grandpa Bob” lived through the struggles of dementia the last 5 years of his life, he smiled every day and was affectionately called “Uncle Bob” at Tilden Memory Care. He remained the gracious gentleman we all knew and loved. We would like to thank Wade, Eva, Twum and the entire Tilden family for their loving care and attention as well as his St. John’s Lutheran Church family and the dedicated lay ministers for their spiritual care and administering of the Lord’s Supper.

In 2023, both Carol and Lois preceded Bob in their passing. Lindsay Grimes married Tim Fogarty in March of 2024, and Will and Caitlyn Grindle were married in May of 2025. Dad became “Great Grandpa Bob” with the birth of Mae Louise, born to Lindsay and Tim on December 3, 2025. He loved seeing her photos and listening to her giggles. Many of us celebrated Dad’s 90th birthday almost a year ago and during a recent visit, Dad and Paul reminisced about their deer hunting adventures. This past Thanksgiving, grandson John Paciga gave him a wonderful gift — a private concert of his favorite Christmas carols, which Bob listened to with pure joy, even singing along. We will always cherish these moments.

We will miss him dearly but as he so eloquently stated, “what a glorious finish to a long, blessed life.”

The funeral service will be held Wednesday, April 8th at 10:30 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 5952 Franconia Rd, Alexandria, VA. Following the service, there will be light refreshments at the church, and interment at Mount Comfort cemetery at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s memory may be made to: St. John’s Lutheran Church (please designate for music needs), The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, or the charity of your choice.