Robert J. Agnew

Robert was married to his wife, Irma, for 59 years. Together they built a life that carried them through Philadelphia and Cleveland, raised two children, Melanie and Jeffrey, and eventually grew to include their spouses, Kim and Anna, and four grandchildren: Jude, Rowan, Meredith, and Haley. His family was a source of enormous pride, and anyone who spent much time talking with Robert was likely to hear what his children and grandchildren were doing before too long.

Robert was born in Flushing, New York, to Joseph and Beatrice Agnew. His father worked for the New York City transit system, while his mother was an elementary school teacher. He grew up in a home shaped by laughter, play, a dog always named Tippy, and an expectation of lifelong education and learning, values that would remain evident throughout his own life and career.

Robert spent his working life at the intersection of education and technology, though “technology” meant something very different than it does today. After graduating from Wittenberg University with a degree in mathematics, he began teaching mathematics and computer programming at Dobbins Area Vocational-Technical School in Philadelphia in 1965. He later earned two master's degrees from Temple University in education and in computer and information science.

His career ultimately took him from the classroom into college information technology at Beaver College, now Arcadia University, and later to Baldwin-Wallace University. Over the years he guided IT on campus as it evolved from room-sized behemoths and specialized terminals to personal computers, campus-wide networks, and the internet. He built computer labs, helped bring early internet access to campus, developed Beaver College's web server, modernized networks and administrative systems, and eventually served as Director of Information Technology at Baldwin-Wallace.

But a list of systems installed or networks upgraded doesn't say very much about the man who did it. Robert was meticulous, dependable, deliberate, and conscientious. If he accepted responsibility for something, he believed it should be done correctly. He had little use for cutting corners, and his integrity was unquestionable.

As a father, he brought that same steadiness and dedication to his family. His kids remember frequent bike rides, trips to the zoo and movies, and getting to spend the day with him at work. He emphasized education, unsurprisingly, and supported his children unwaveringly as they followed their individual paths in life, no matter how much those paths differed from his own.

His faith was a constant throughout his life, and he served his churches in just about every way a person could serve: as an elder earlier in life, a Sunday school teacher’s aide, and an usher; helping with parking; caring for children in the nursery; and serving for more than 20 years as part of the counting team at Grace Church.

The counting team was particularly well suited to Robert. There were procedures. There were numbers. There was money that needed to be accounted for correctly. Naturally, Robert typed up instructions so that new volunteers would know precisely how things were supposed to be done. He took the responsibility seriously, even when certain more talkative members of the team—and a pastor or two—regarded distracting him as a form of recreation.

Underneath that precision, though, was a man who simply liked people. Neighbors remember him wandering over from the mailbox to talk, asking about their children and sharing news about his own. When a younger friend lost his job and with it his company car, Robert offered his own car until the family could get another vehicle. When a woman from the counting team had to walk through a crowded parking lot carrying the deposit, Robert insisted on accompanying her to her car, even later in life when walking became more difficult for him. In his younger days, he made a habit of shoveling the driveway for the elderly woman next door faithfully after every snow, never accepting anything more than her thanks, but turning a blind eye when she slipped a 20 to Jeff, whom he’d drag along. Looking after the people around him came naturally.

That was especially true with children. He always brightened up when interacting with young kids, and he took a special joy in being with his grandchildren. When visiting their homes, he rarely missed a school pick up, drop off, or a bedtime story. He could spend hours on the floor making simple towers or reading books.

Humor was another way Robert connected with people, and his particular brand was as recognizable as his New York City accent. He was an enthusiastic supplier of Reader's Digest jokes, dad jokes, and well-loved one-liners. If someone yawned near him, he might peer over his glasses and ask, without missing a beat, “Are we keeping you awake?” If someone stood between him and the television “you make a better door than a window” and “are you posing for animal crackers” were among his favorite phrases.

He was a golfer, giving the game up while his children were young and returning to it enthusiastically later in life. He enjoyed mysteries, 60 Minutes, and Sudoku. He never turned down a chocolatey dessert, a preference expressed through his unwavering, lifelong commitment to an ice cream sundae every Sunday night for dinner, upgraded later in Cleveland to a “Buster Bob Blizzard” from Dairy Queen.

What emerges from all of those details is a man who was reliable and steady. Robert showed up. He kept his commitments. He took care of what had been entrusted to him and looked out for the people around him. Though he could be as exacting about a bank deposit as the makeup of a hot fudge sundae, he was generous with his time, his possessions, and himself. His life was not built around grand gestures. It was built around thousands of smaller acts of faithfulness repeated over many years.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Irma (née Brewington); his daughter, Melanie Harries and her husband, Kim; his son, Jeffrey and his wife, Anna; his grandchildren, Jude, Rowan, Meredith, and Haley; his brother, William and his wife, Chris; his sister, Betty Banach and her husband, Bill; his sister, Marian and her husband, Richard; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 3, at A. Ripepi and Sons Funeral Home, 18149 Bagley Road, Middleburg Heights, followed by a funeral service at 6:00 p.m. Graveside prayers will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 4, at Strongsville Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Robert's memory to the Global Missions Fund of Grace Church, 7393 Pearl Road, Middleburg Heights, Ohio 44130 (gracecma.org).