Bob was born the youngest child of immigrant Polish parents and grew up in Easthampton, Massachusetts. After graduating from UMass Amherst with a degree in political science, Bob joined the U.S. Army. and the opportunities he had to travel during that time stoked his lifelong curiosity about other countries and cultures. Bob spent a year of his military service studying Russian at the Army Language School (now known as the Defense Language Institute), and in 1961 spent an extended period traveling the former Soviet Union with a traveling plastics exhibition as an interpreter with the United States Information Agency.
After concluding his military service, Bob began graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, then continued at the University of Warsaw in Poland. At this time he married Maria. They had their first child while in Poland, and Bob received his M.A. in Polish philology. Upon returning to the US Bob spent many years as the director of the Center for Polish Studies and Culture at St. Mary’s college. During this time his expertise was much in demand, bringing him opportunities such as a guest appearance on Tony Brown’s Journal, a trip to the White House to meet President Jimmy Carter prior to the Carter’s visit to Poland in 1979, and the challenge of simultaneous translation for broadcast during a speech given by Pope John Paul II when he visited Detroit in 1987.
The latter part of Bob’s career was spent as an ESL instructor at Wayne State University, where his enthusiastic teaching style and genuine interest in other cultures greatly endeared him to students and coworkers.
Bob had a lifelong love of arts and culture, and shared his passion for books, music and art with his many friends and his family.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Maria Geryk, his brothers Frank, Alfred, Stanley and Florian, his sister Ann (Krawczyk) and her son Gerald, as much a brother as he was a nephew. He was briefly survived by his wife of 57 years, Maria, son Bruce and daughter-in-law Lorie, daughter Maya, his grandchildren Zofia and Renata Packard, his sister Angela (Conway) and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.
Bob's remains will be laid to rest in Easthampton, MA at the end of April, and a celebration of life for both Bob and Maria will be forthcoming in Michigan. Gifts in Bob's memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders.
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