Robert Edmond Mazurek

A celebration of life will be held at a Mass at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, August 5th at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 7900 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, Florida. Interment will follow at the National Cemetery in Sarasota, Florida for the immediate family.

Visitation will take place from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, August 4th at Palms-Robarts Funeral Home, 170 Honore Avenue, Sarasota, Florida.

Bob was born on September 1, 1935 to John and Helen (Bodga) Mazurek in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

After proudly serving in the US Army during the Korean War, he graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and was a football player there. He worked with the Campbell Soup Company for many years, finally turning down a corporate move to start his own trucking business. Bob owned Carolina Pacific, sold it years later, only to open two other trucking companies, Carolina Southern and Greensboro Express. Bob was an avid golfer with a single digit handicap. He enjoyed summers in his mountain home in Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina and loved playing the courses at Grandfather Mountain Golf and Country Club. He and his wife, Linda, traveled to many places while they were married –Africa, Ecuador, Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean. Bob was so generous to his family, his church, his community, as well as his friends, and helped so many in need financially and through his friendship. A die-hard North Carolina Tarheel fan, where both of his daughters graduated, he was a constant presence at Kenan Stadium, as well as the Dean Dome, telling his beloved Tarheels how to play the game from his front and center seats.

Bob is survived by his loving wife, Linda East Mazurek; two daughters, Dr. Sharon Mazurek of Fort Mill, South Carolina and Cynthia Jean Ball of Raleigh, North Carolina; three grandchildren, Landon Barfoot, Bryan Ball, Samantha Ball; two sisters, Agnes Vasalani (Joe), and Jean Trapuzzano, both of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his former wife, Joann Cairns Mazurek.

The family kindly requests no flowers. Memorial tributes may be made to www.PSP.org, the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy organization.

The family wishes to thank all our wonderful friends, caretakers, and family members who supported us with love and care during this time.