Robert Edward Habermas

Bob was born as Robert Edward Habermas on July 18, 1929 in the City of Detroit, Michigan to Edward Charles Habermas and Florence Marie (Binder) Habermas. Edward, born in 1894 to German immigrant parents, became an accomplished business man and rose to the ranks of senior management at the Detroit Edison Company, the major power company in Michigan. Florence, two years younger than Edward, was also born in the Detroit area, and married Edward on July 26th, 1919. Edward and Florence were both first generation Americans, were very proud of their country and their German heritage, and instilled this pride in their children. Their first child Ruth was born in 1920, and was already 9 years old when her little brother Robert came along. Ruth loved her little brother, and was a wonderful role model for Bob during his formative years. Ruth married Leo Bahr also from Detroit, and they raised 4 children together (Lynne, Scott, Ty and Wayne). Bob and Ruth (and Bob’s wife Jane) remained very close throughout their lives, and when they both lived in Detroit before Bob retired to California, it was a big tradition every year to gather the whole clan at either the Bahr or Habermas home to celebrate the holidays together. Sadly, beloved “Aunt Ruthie” passed in 2009 at the age of 89.

Unlike many unfortunate families of the 1930s, Bob’s father Edward never lost his job during the Great Depression, and consequently the young Habermas family always had a roof over their heads and food on the table. Besides being a wonderful mother, Florence was an accomplished cook, and throughout her life enjoyed making delicious German dishes and home-made pastries that delighted her family and friends. She was particularly famous for her kniffles also known as spaetzle, and her delicious coffee cake and apple, cherry and blueberry pies, which Bob loved. Bob attended grade school and Cooley High School in Detroit, and was a very bright and serious student. He also enjoyed sports, and was on the swim and water polo teams throughout high school. Bob always had a deep love for math and science, and was a gifted “tinkerer”. He loved machines, airplanes and automobiles, and was always working on his car or fixing things that broke down. Bob also grew up with a great love for animals, which he later shared with his children, and relished telling them many stories about his fearless little black Scottie dog named Butch. Bob also was an accomplished horseman, and rode often during his grade school and high school years.

After graduation from high school, Bob attended Wayne State University where he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. It was during a Freshman English class when Bob met Jane Bryan, who would become his life-long partner and soul mate. Bob and Jane dated through their college years and their relationship deepened. Bob gave her his fraternity pin in 1951 and asked her to marry him. They both graduated in June of 1952, Jane with her degree in Medical Technology and Bob with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry. Jane immediately started working as a medical technologist at Grace Hospital in Detroit while Bob started post graduate work at Wayne State University, where he later received his Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry. The couple married on November 28, 1952 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Detroit Mich., the Habermas family church that Bob attended as a child. After their wedding, Jane took adult catechism classes from Pastor Born who had married them, and was later confirmed and joined the church with Bob.

After about 11 months of marriage in September of 1953, Bob received notice that he had been drafted into the US army. He was immediately sent to Ft. Knox Kentucky for basic training, and then was stationed at Ft. Meade in Maryland. Jane left her job and was able to join him there. Their first child, Janelle (Jan) Marie was born there in May of 1955. Bob loved airplanes and always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but was disqualified because of his color-blindness. So he ended up serving in the 3rd Armored Calvary of the Army Infantry for two years, was honorably discharged in September of 1955, and then the young family moved back to Detroit to begin their new life together. The couple settled in Livonia, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit) and bought their first home. Bob was immediately hired as a research chemist at the Detroit Edison Company where his father Edward had worked his entire career. The young couple welcomed a new son Paul Edward to the family in March of 1958, and another daughter Linda Jane in August of 1962. Sadly only about a year before Linda’s birth, Edward died suddenly of a stroke – a huge loss for the entire family. Florence never remarried and died more than 20 years later in 1983 at the age of 87. Bob and Jane joined the congregation of St. Paul’s Wisconsin Synod Lutheran Church where they became very active members, and all of their children later attended the grade school there. As their children grew, they pleaded for a family dog, and Bob got them a miniature schnauzer that they named Buddy. After Buddy passed on years later, Bob immediately got them another schnauzer that they named Fritz, who lived to the ripe old age of 17, and saw all three kids grow up and get married. All of Bob’s children and many of his grandkids to this day have had at least one schnauzer as beloved members of their own families.

Bob went on to enjoy a very rewarding and successful career at the Detroit Edison Company, spending more than 37 years there. During that time he took on more and more responsibility, until at the time he retired, he was running their entire research laboratory. Bob became well known throughout his industry as an expert in lubrication chemistry. He worked on many major projects for the Edison Company including establishing the design and operating specifications and construction of the large power generators for the Fermi Nuclear Power Plant in Monroe, MI. Bob was often asked to lecture at major industry meetings including the American Chemical Society (ACS), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), American Society for Lubrication Engineers, and ANACHEM, and he had numerous scientific articles and papers published in their respective journals. Bob was a brilliant scientist with a creative and inquisitive mind. He was a prolific inventor, and through the Edison Company patented many of his ideas, which were licensed back to the Company or out-licensed to others. Bob invented an innovative and proprietary fuel additive that would make every-day automobile engines run more efficiently and require less frequent oil changes. With Jane’s help, he started a new company that they called Addico, which was built upon this technology. They chose to collaborate with an industrial partner who was to provide the marketing and distribution muscle to drive sales of their product. The product was very effective, but unfortunately the partner did not put enough marketing investment behind it, and eventually the company was shut down. This experience was well before todays’ popular trend towards entrepreneurship, and well before the availability of venture and angel capital to help company founders fund and grow their businesses. Bob was an entrepreneur way before his time!

After their children grew up and graduated from college and moved to California and to Texas, Bob and Jane started thinking about retirement. They toyed with the idea of joining generations of snowbirds before them spending winters in Florida and summers in Michigan. After visiting their daughter Jan and son-in-law Greg in Southern California however, they fell in love with San Diego. They found Ocean Hills Country Club just as they were opening a new section of the development, and at Jane’s urging they bought a lot. After their new retirement home was built, they rented it for a few years while Bob worked towards an early retirement, which he took in 1990. They sold their home in Northville, Michigan and moved out to San Diego. There they found Beautiful Saviour Lutheran Church, and became very involved and active members there. Bob ushered most Sundays and helped out with numerous special church projects, and Jane taught Sunday school and art class to the school children enrolled there.

Bob and Jane designed the landscaping for their beautiful new yard at Ocean Hills, which was selected several times to be part of the Ocean Hills garden tours. Bob also sat on the Ocean Hills Architectural Committee for many years. Not surprisingly, Bob became quickly known throughout the Ocean Hills Community as the “go to” guy for fixing anything that was broken. He repaired all kinds of mechanical and electrical things for his friends, and became a wizard with computers. He build his first stereo system and computer from scratch, and was always an early adopter for the various new software programs that would come onto the market. Bob and Jane were both avid golfers and joined their respective golf leagues at the Ocean Hills Country Club. Bob enjoyed being an active member of the men’s golf leagues and played every Tuesday morning with the same foursome for many, many years. Bob and Jane met many terrific friends and neighbors over their 20+ years living in Ocean Hills, and truly shared a wonderful retirement life together.

Sadly, after about 20 years of retirement bliss, Jane passed away at the age of 81 in 2011 after a brave and lengthy fight with metastatic colon cancer. Bob was at her side throughout her illness, and never wavered in his love for her. After Jane passed, Bob was overtaken with a deep depression and loneliness, and decided that it was again time to get another dog to brighten his life. Of course, it had to be a schnauzer, and with his daughter Jan’s help, they turned to the Schnauzer Rescue of San Diego. There Bob met and adopted Max, who would become his dear and inseparable companion for the next 5 years. Max gave Bob a whole new lease on life, and now with Bob’s passing has been adopted by his dear friend Irma Santiago, who will give Max a wonderful new home.

In spite of Bob’s renewed purpose to take care of Max, his health began to gradually fail. He was diagnosed with progressive memory loss (Alzheimer’s) in early 2014, and would move into assisted living and memory care at Vista Gardens. The staff there were amazing, and took such wonderful care of Bob and Max – we can never thank them enough for all they did for him. On January 1st, 2016, Bob was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which only four short months later finally took his life.

Bob passed away quietly on May 11th at 3:45 pm, just two months shy of his 87th birthday, with Max, his daughter Jan, and son-in-law Greg at his side. Bob leaves an amazing legacy! He was incredibly kind and helpful to everyone he knew. He always had a joke and a smile for everyone, and never, ever complained about anything (which actually made it a bit challenging in his final years for those of us trying to care for him). He loved sports and was very loyal to his San Diego Padres and Detroit Lions. He was honest to a fault, a man of the highest integrity and his word was always his honor. He strove for perfection in everything he did (which sometimes drove his family crazy), and was patient and persevering until he achieved it. He loved his Country and served her well. He was a man with a very deep faith and love of the Lord, and shared his faith and testimony with those around him. He was an amazing father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He loved us all and was always eager to help us to learn and grow. His greatest legacy are his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that he leaves behind who are better human beings because he was such a strong and guiding influence in their lives. We are all so blessed to have been a part of Bob’s life, and we look forward to being reunited with him and Jane someday in heaven. We love you so much, and will miss you dad!

Blessed are those who die in the Lord! (Revelation 14:13)

Bob is survived by his loving family which include:

• Daughter Jan D’Alvise and her husband Greg Kaminski, living in San Diego, CA.

• Son Paul Habermas and his wife Donna, sons Michael and Rob, and Rob’s wife Jane and their sons Christian and Brody and daughters Taylor and Makenzy – all living in Houston, TX.

• Daughter Linda Habermas and her husband Don Palmer, Linda’s daughter Danielle (Dani) Camilli and her husband Mark Camilli, son Neil Crumpton and his wife Justine and their new son Trenton Robert, and Don’s son Trey Palmer – all living in Houston, TX.

There will be a visitation for the family on Thursday, May 19th from 4 – 7:00 pm. We welcome you to join us. It will be held at Bob’s final resting place:

Eternal Hills Memorial Park Chapel

1999 S. El Camino Real

Oceanside, CA 92054

There will also be a funeral service at Bob’s church on Friday, May 20th at 11:30 am. Refreshments and snacks to follow. Again we welcome you to join us to celebrate Robert’s amazing life. The address is:

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

3030 Valley Street

Carlsbad, CA 92008

760-729-6272

For those of you who are interested, a graveside service will take place back at Eternal Hills at 2:00 pm following the reception.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking that you consider a contribution to one of Bob’s two favorite charities. They are:

1. Beautiful Saviour Lutheran Church – the money will be used for the "Beautifying our Beautiful Saviour" project. Please make your check out to Beautiful Saviour Lutheran - and put "Bob Habermas memorial" on the check. Please send the check to the address listed above.

2. Schnauzer Rescue of San Diego – the money will be used to care for abandoned schnauzers and help them find their forever home. Please make your check out to Schnauzer Rescue of San Diego and put "Bob Habermas memorial" on the check. Please send it to:

Schnauzer Rescue of San Diego, Attn: Lita and Jan

7118 Siempre Viva Road

San Diego, CA 92154