The youngest of five children, Bob was born on February 7, 1933, in East St. Louis to Maude and Grover LeBeau. He was preceded in death by his sister and brother-in-law, Ethel and Charlie Alexander who were like parents to him, along with his brothers, Carl, Howard and Paul.
A young lady, Helen Kanturek, caught Bob’s eye as he lingered in the halls at Collinsville High School waiting for shop class. Two years later on May 12, 1953, the day before Bob left to report to boot camp, he and Helen drove to Arkansas and eloped. Helen was the love of his life and they were married for a wonderful 73 years. She passed away earlier this year and he missed her dearly. They had two children, Bryon (Patti) LeBeau and Valerie (Mike) Schmitz. They were Bob and Helen’s pride and joy. They were also blessed with two wonderful grandchildren, Chris (Courtney) LeBeau and Gabrielle (Jackson) Robbins and three great grandchildren, Tatum, Harlow and Rocco.
After returning from his deployment to Germany, Bob began his carpenter apprenticeship and became a member of Local 169 in East St. Louis where he was a member of the union for over 70 years. He became a finish carpenter and took great pride in his work, very much the perfectionist. In his free time, Bob loved to hunt and fish and shared that passion with his son, grandson and son-in-law. Bob and Helen had a cabin on the Illinois River for over 50 years. There were many weekends of boating and water activities, late night horseshoe contests, fish frys, hunting weekends, running trout lines and just spending time with family and friends. This was their place to relax and enjoy life.
We will celebrate his life with a visitation on November 3 from 10am to 11am followed by a memorial service at 11am at Lake View Funeral Home, Fairview Heights, IL.
In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to Mercy Health Foundation. Please direct the gift for the benefit of the de Greeff Hospice House.
