There will be a memorial Mass at 10:30 A.M., Friday, May 15,2015 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. The family will welcome friends from 12:30 to 2:00 at the Country Club of Missouri.
Bob was born in Boonville , MO on Feb. 3, 1939 to Mable and Henry Bechtold. He graduated from Rockhurst College, in Kansas City, in 1961 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business. Bob played baseball at Rockhurst all four years. After college, he played and then coached Ban Johnson baseball for many years.
Bob attended graduate school at the University of Missouri, Columbia studying Economics. It was while he was in graduate school that he met Donna Hale Barnini, who was attending Stephen’s College. They married in 1965.
In order to pay his tuition, Bob started a painting business while attending Rockhurst. He started a sod business while in graduate school and continued to run the business for more than a decade. He bought and developed several residential and commercial projects in Missouri which included Columbia, Boonville, Rolla and New Madrid.
In 1978, Bob bought a parcel of land just west of Columbia at the Fayette exit. There was one small building with two gas pumps on the property. He began adding parcels of land that surrounded his property. Today, Midway Travel Plaza encompasses more than 200 acres and includes several businesses.
Bob was an avid Mizzou football fan. He owned tickets on the 50-yard line for 54 years and attended every home game regardless of the weather. He loved playing bridge. Bob especially like spending winters in Boca Raton, Fl., where he and his father in law John Barnini could be found Saturdays watching the thoroughbreds run at Hialeah Racetrack.
Bob also had a passion for golf and even after his diagnosis was able to play for another 6 years with his friends, a group of men called “The Dots.”
Bob was very involved in the Missouri Truckstop Operators Association and served as president of the organization in 1982. He was on the Management Advisory Board at the University of Missouri from 1986 to 1989. He was on the advisory board for Habitat for Humanity from 1998-2002. And he was on the board of Boone County Bank from 1985 to 2009. Bob also was a longtime member of the Downtown Rotary club.
Bob is survived by his wife Donna, son Robert Joseph Jr. (Joe) and his wife Megan and their two sons Robert Joseph III and Ryder Jack, and son John Brendan and his wife Vitalija and their daughter Emilia. He is also survived by three sisters: Dorothy Hayes (husband Mike) and Jeannie Wasleski both of Kansas City, and Virginia Schulte of Brecksville, Ohio, and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by four brothers and one sister.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 2400 Bluff Creek Dr., Columbia MO, 65201.
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