Robert Dean Terry

Bob was known to his coworkers as “The IT Guy” and to much of his family as “Uncle Bob”. He was known as “Dad” by his two children, Dani and Brian, “Grandpa”, by grandchildren Zoey, Lydia, and Eliza, and lovingly as “Husband” by his wife Vickie of 36 years.

Bob was born on August 7, 1963, in Jackson, Michigan, as the fifth child of Max and Ruth Terry. As his mother passed away when Bob was seven, he spent much of his time working and tinkering with his dad on various repair and fixit projects, shaping his interests and career as an adult.

As a student at Western School District, Bob met several lifelong friends including his long-standing best friend Mike Kosht. Together with Dick Haagsma, Terry Giffin, George Chapel, and Kevin Brassil, they shared the annual traditional canoe trip, aka “Bay Area River Travelers” or BART. When Mike moved away, the two friends always found ways to stay connected, from friendly NASCAR bets to weekly Sunday phone calls.

From years of working with his dad, Bob was a lifelong tinkerer, often fondly recalling his early days at Showbiz pizza where he worked on animatronics and helped to fix the arcade games. He went on to earn an associate’s degree from Jackson Community College and began work as a software engineer for a local company called DuTec. It was here that Bob met the love of his life, Vickie.

Bob and Vickie married on September 9, 1989, and shortly thereafter they moved into their forever home, where they raised Danielle and Brian, along with an array of cats and dogs. While he encouraged all of his children’s interests, Bob especially fostered a love of tinkering and engineering in his kids. This encouragement extended to his many nieces and nephews, often teaching important life skills like driving a stick shift, and the scientific principles behind rocketry and fireworks.

In his ultimate role as “Grandpa”, he continued the tradition by spending many happy hours with his granddaughters assembling (nearly age-appropriate) art and STEM kits while teaching tool skills, and concepts of electronics, engineering, and physics.

Bob’s career was spent providing software engineering and I.T. services at duTec, inc.; I.T. services for Western School District, in their I.T. department, and finally as the I.T. Administrator at Gestamp. Bob made a few good friends through his career who have enriched his life in so many ways.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Max Arnell Terry and Ruth Elaine (Stoddard) Terry, and sister Kathleen (Terry) Salla.

He is survived by his wife, Vickie (Andrews) Terry; children, Brian Terry and Danielle (Terry) Booms, her husband Nathan Booms, and grandchildren, Zoey, Lydia, and Eliza Booms; sisters Patricia (Terry) Smith, Jacquelyn (Terry) Tichnell, and Virginia (Terry) Atkins, and many wonderful nieces and nephews.

Celebration of Life: A celebration of life will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at the Grass Lake Depot, 210 E. Michigan Ave, Grass Lake, Michigan.