Robert Charles McLravy

Robert Charles McLravy (Bob) was born on July 22, 1923 in Hastings, Michigan. He was the son of Glen J. and Ruth D. McLravy. He died peacefully at home on December 22, 2021. He was predeceased by his parents, Yvonne, his wife of 67 years, his siblings John and Joyce and their spouses, and his grandson, James.

Bob moved to Lansing with his family and attended Bretton Woods Elementary School, West Junior High and Lansing Central. At Central, Bob was president of the National Honor's Society and vice president of the Yearbook Club. He played right tackle on the football team.

In 1942, after one year at Michigan State (Michigan State College at the time), Bob enlisted in the army. He contracted pneumonia on a troop train from California to New Jersey. He met Yvonne, an army nurse, at a hospital in New Jersey when she was caring for him. After Bob recovered, he was sent back to California and took a troop ship to the South Pacific. He was part of the Philippine invasion and one of the first ashore at Mindanao. He saw more combat than he ever cared to talk about.

Bob and Yvonne married after the war, and Bob went back to college at Michigan State on the GI Bill. They started married life in 1948 in a twenty-one foot trailer with no indoor plumbing. They kept the trailer at Trailer Haven in East Lansing where Whole Foods is now located. He finished his bachelor’s in civil engineering and then completed a master’s in civil engineering. In 1953 they built their house at 505 Richard Avenue in Delta Township on what was then a dirt road. They added onto the house four times and lived there the remainder of their lives.

Following graduation, Bob, his father, his brother, and his brother-in-law started G. J. McLravy & Sons. For the next forty years, they designed bridges and roads throughout the state and press pits for Oldsmobile in Lansing. They were in the bridge business for so long that some of their early bridges wore out, and they were hired to design new ones.

When Bob and Yvonne retired, they toured the country in motorhomes, visiting every state in the continental United States, including Alaska.

Bob’s passion, though, was sailing. He started in 1956 with a snipe, a seventeen-foot daysailer, and ended up with Summer Wind, a thirty-five foot sloop that they cruised on the great lakes. They kept their boats at Macatawa near Holland and then Elk Rapids.

Their great adventure was a ten-month trip down the inland waterway ending up in the Florida Keys.

Along the way, Bob was a founding member of the Lansing Power Squadron, serving as Commander many times and also serving as District Commander of District Nine.

He was also a lifelong member of Central United Methodist Church.

Bob was mechanical and had a great interest in knowing how things work. He could fix anything, and he did. He also was a gifted engineer and designed many of his own projects. He liked MSU football, reading, classical music and a very dry gin martini on the rocks with two olives. The vermouth always lasted much longer than the gin.

He stayed current, and at age ninety-eight had an iPhone, an iPad, a computer and two Kindles. When his hearing failed, he took to texting.

Bob was kind, strong, stoic and generous. He might not say how he felt, but his actions showed it. He was straightforward to a fault and did not suffer fools gladly. He never forgot anything he wanted to remember. He loved his family deeply.

He is survived by his son, Charlie (Christi); three grandchildren: Charlie (Lindsey), Tom and Kathryn; Anne and Jim Detamore; many nieces and nephews; his special friend, Angie Brown and his cat, Lynx.

The family thanks Sparrow Senior Healthcare, Sparrow Hospice, Angie Brown, Tim Kryzs, and Debbie Geeting for their care and compassion. The family also thanks Brian Brockway, Scott Brockway, and Dan Perry for all of their help in keeping 505 Richard Avenue running the way Bob wanted it to.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 24 at 11:00am with a visitation one hour prior at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes - Tiffany Chapel 3232 W Saginaw St. Lansing, MI 48917.

Thank you, Papa, for all you did for us. We miss you.