Robert Thomas McNally

March 16th, 2024 – his 56th wedding anniversary.

Bob was born to Cecilia “Snooze” (Hank) and Robert McNally on December 23rd, 1941. After his father’s sudden death at the age of 4, Cecilia was remarried to Bernard “Ben” Britz, by whom Bob and his two younger brothers were raised and called dad. Snooze and Ben went on to have two more daughters, Bob’s sisters Mary and Bernadette, making him the oldest of 5 children.

After graduating from Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, IL in 1959, Bob entered the US Army where he was stationed at West Point Academy in New York. He was extremely proud of his time at West Point. He loved to talk about his experiences there and to show off his prized West Point glassware. After an honorable discharge from the service, Bob returned to his hometown of Fox Lake where he joined the local police force as a law enforcement officer. Ultimately Bob went on to have a long career in commercial and residential roofing, owning his own business and working for a number of other companies in IL, KY, and FL. Shortly after returning to Fox Lake from his time in the service, Bob reunited with his senior high school homecoming date, Donna Green. They married on March 16th, 1968. Donna still chuckles about how Bob’s dad Ben wrote “Help Me” on the bottoms of Bob’s shoes, which the whole church saw when they knelt during the ceremony. Bob and Donna went on to welcome three daughters - Kelly, Jennifer, and Amanda. Bob was a true family man and loved his wife and children above everything else. Raising his girls was his greatest accomplishment and he never tired of talking about how proud he was of them. Perhaps the only topic he loved to talk about more than his daughters were his grandchildren. He was a joyful and loving “Poppy” to Kelly’s children Steven and Samantha and Jennifer’s daughters Shealyn and Brin. At the time of his death, he was excitedly anticipating the arrival of Amanda’s first child, another grandson. Not far behind his love for his family came Bob’s love for the Green Bay Packers. He was a dedicated and passionate Packers fan, rarely ever missing a game. His chief complaint after relocating to AZ last year was that he couldn’t get all the Packers games on the channels available. Bob also loved Donna’s apple pie, baseball, fishing, camping in Door County, golfing, playing cards, working in the yard, and in general just spending quality time with his family. Eventually Donna wore him down with her constant watching of UFO shows and he even began to like those too (but no shows about ghosts). He will forever be remembered for his huge heart and even though he complained every time Donna or one of the kids brought home a new animal (which was often), deep down he always formed an affection for them, especially their Golden Retriever Max and Shih-Tzu Ozzie. There are countless animal stories involving Bob, but one of Donna’s favorite memories is when she bought two birds at a garage sale named Fred and Ethel. Bob said, “Who buys birds at a garage sale?”, to which Donna replied, “Well they came with the cage”. Fred would constantly drive Bob crazy by constantly singing Anchors Away in the middle of the night, but eventually he won Bob over by getting so excited when he came home from work that he’d fly right to him when he walked in the door to sit on his shoulder and talk to him.

Bob is preceded in death by his mother Cecilia Britz, father Robert McNally, stepfather Bernard Britz, brothers Thomas McNally and Dennis McNally, and son-in-law Daniel Robinson. He is survived by his wife Donna McNally; daughters Kelly (Steven) Siegel, Jennifer (Troy Depew) Robinson, and Amanda (Travis Yerbich) Henley; grandchildren Steven Siegel, Samantha Siegel, Shealyn Robinson, Brin Robinson, and Nolan Yerbich; sisters Mary Koenig and Bernadette (Steven) Britz-Parker; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.

Cremation will take place privately. A celebration of life will be announced at a future date.