Background
Robert was born on February 11, 1924 in Las Cruces. He was the third youngest of nine surviving children.
Robert was born on February 11, 1924 in Las Cruces. He was the third youngest of nine surviving children.
Robert attended Grand View Elementary School, Central School, and Las Cruces Union High School, graduating in 1942. After graduation, he studied at New Mexico State University for one year before leaving Las Cruces to go live with his sister Juliette in Los Angeles.
Robert returned to Las Cruces in 1946 and in early 1947, after passing an engineering aide exam, he went to work with the Department of the Army at the newly opened White Sands Missile Range (WSMR). He worked for WSMR and remained there until 1981 when he retired after 33 years with the federal civil service. After retirement Robert worked another ten years as a substitute teacher with the Las Cruces Public Schools District.
In the early years, Robert held the office of Treasurer and was Chief Counselor for the Columbian Squires. From 1951 until 1954 he coached the Columbian Squires baseball team, and was bartender at the council for many years.
In 1981 Robert wrote and published Diamond Jubilee, and in 1997, he presented the council with an updated history titled 90 Years of Columbianism. Robert remained active in the Knights of Columbus throughout his life, and on August 28, 2004, he reached his goal of becoming a Fourth Degree Knight.
Robert was a devout Catholic. In his younger years, he served at St. Genevieve Catholic Church as an altar boy and then as an usher as the years passed. He later became a Eucharistic Minister.
Robert was never a person to sit idle.
In January of 1948 Robert married the love of his life Mary Louise Medina.
