He is survived by the love of his life: his wife of fifty-nine years, Ruth Lieder, and children Bob Lieder, Jr; Kathy Lieder-Bonsall, Linda Lieder-Bryant, and seven grandchildren: Bobby, Jaycee, Rachel, Michael, Terran, Christopher and Jacob.
Bob was the last of four children born to Leo and Lurley January 24, 1936, in Oakland, California, after Melvin Leroy, Don Richard and Ruth Elaine, all of whom preceded him.
As a young teen the family moved to Fresno where his parents formerly lived. He graduated Theodore Roosevelt High School in the class of 1954 and attended two years at Fresno State College before leaving with three of his friends who together enlisted into the Army and who remained together for the duration of their tour.
Bob and Ruth (Ross) were married in September 1959 in Fresno and he began in 1960 as a truck driver with United Grocers where he retired in 1991 as a well liked member of the management team. After two weeks of retirement he started working summers as a supervisor at the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, where he would say, “How can this be called work when I’m here amongst these beautiful trees?” During the winters of the next several years he and Ruth traveled extensively around the perimeter of the US and Canada in their motorhome meeting many new friends along the way.
After many winters with their travel trailer parked in the mountains at Bass Lake, the family moved to Oakhurst, CA at the end of 1972. Soon it was apparent that it would be a home not only for the immediate family, but for many friends of the children who felt the love that was fostered by Bob and Ruth. More than a handful of those children, in adulthood, still called him Dad or even Mister Sir up to the end of his life.The Lieders became an integral part of the Little Church in the Pines (Bass Lake) youth organization. Surely as a truck driver he couldn’t have foreseen himself driving for sixteen hours the old 1949 GMC bus loaded with seventh to twelfth grade kids each Spring Break-while on his own vacation-to a deaf school near Ensenada, Mexico. He would proudly say that it was both one of the dumbest and one of most fulfilling things he had ever agreed to.
Bob was a lifelong baseball Giants fan-both New York and San Francisco in particular, and a baseball fan in general. He didn’t care the level of play; he could sit and watch any game with the same enthusiasm. In the early sixties he volunteered with City of Fresno Police Department as a reserve patrolman continuing to give back through the end of the decade until moving to the mountains. Being a car guy, Bob loved keeping the Mustang convertible running and looking good even as he drove it over a hundred miles a day for the twenty years of commuting from Oakhurst to Fresno. As a youth he fostered a love for jazz in all of its forms and that appreciation continued to flourish even to his last days.
Probably most noted about Bob from family, friends and acquaintances all, was his sarcasm, dry wit and constant puns that he passed onto his children, both natural and “acquired,” and grandchildren. He would especially smile when they would join together in a spontaneous “pun run” each trying to outdo the others. It was his humor that allowed him to make new and solid friendships that would continue for years.
A memorial gathering is planned for Saturday, February 23 from 2pm -4pm at the North Fresno Mennonite Church, 5724 N. Fresno Street, Fresno, CA. For questions or details, you may call or text Linda Bryant, 559-213-6202; Kathy Bonsall, 408-421-0416; or Bob Lieder 559-906-9010
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