MOLINARO, Robert J. 1929-2012
MOLINARO, RICCHIO, BLONIGAN, HIBBARD
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 9/21/2012 at 20:55:30
#1:
Robert John Molinaro was born at home in Racine, Wisconsin on October 6, 1929, to the late Rosaria (Ricchio) and Enrico Molinaro. He attended Lakeside Grade School, Franklin Junior High School and graduated from Washington Park High School in Racine. He attended the University of Wisconsin, University of Mississippi and University of Northern Iowa and Murray State.
Bob grew up in a four-block-square in the Racine neighborhood called Lakeside, where nearly all the youngsters had immigrant parents, mainly Italian and Hungarian. Everyone knew one another and that created strong friendships that lasted a lifetime.
He was an enthusiastic athlete, excelling in many sports including marbles. He played semi-pro football under the name Bob Warren. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was a medic stationed in Panama.
Among the civic offices that Bob held are; Board of Directors of the Waterloo Industrial Development Association, Chamber of Commerce, President of the Waterloo Airport Commission, Co-Chair of the National Cattle Congress (NCC) Ad Hoc Committee as well as the NCC Board of Directors.
He also held industry offices in the Iowa Motor Truck Association, Interstate Truckload Carriers, Executive Board Member of American Trucking Association (ATA), Vice-president to the Board of Governors, and Later the Vice-president at Large of ATA, and past president of the Machinery Haulers Association.
Some of his awards and recognitions include; Past Chairman’s Award and Vice President at Large Emeritus of ATA, Honorary Lifetime Member of Iowa Motor Truck Association, Hoover Middle School’s Most Respected Business Person in 1996, Special Recognition for Service by the Mayor and City Council of Waterloo, Special Honoree of the Jaycee’s for the Waterloo Open, Special Recognition by Governor Terry Branstad and Senator Charles Grassley, Iowa/Nebraska Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, Waterloo Chamber-Board of Directors, UNI Presidents Club, the Leonard Katoski Volunteer Service Award by Mayor Buck Clark and the WCF Courier’s 8 Over 80 in 2011.
Bob is survived by his wife of sixty-one years, Mary Ellen Warren Molinaro; daughters, Frances Rose Molinaro and Mary Robin Molinaro-Blonigan; son-in-law, Bryan Molinaro-Blonigan; granddaughters, Kristin Nichole Rooff, Mary Ellen and Henrietta Rose Molinaro-Blonigan; brothers, Albert (Marilyn) of Wausau, Wisconsin, Anthony (Cathy) of Slinger, Wisconsin; a sister, Edith (Bill) Hibbard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; sisters-in-law, Donna (Vern) Nelson of Waterloo, Deborah (Michael) Kennedy of Canyon Lake, Calif.; brothers-in-law, John (Sandy) Warren and George (Mary Ellen) Warren both of Waterloo.
He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, grand nieces and nephews and countless friends.
In addition to his parents and his in-laws, Frances and Irwin Warren; Bob was preceded in death by his son Henry; his brothers, Frank and Gene; his sister-in-law, Carolyn Molinaro; his niece Mary Ellen “Cookie” Hibbard; and his nephew Curt W. “Casey” Hibbard III.
[Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Funeral Home Obituary]
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#2:Molinaro dies of cancer at age 82
WATERLOO — Bob Molinaro was a Mack truck of a man.
Big, burly and boisterous, with a blue-collar attitude in a largely white-collar world, the ex-college football player wasn't afraid to carry the ball and crash the line for his company, his community and those he cared for.
Molinaro, who ran Warren Transport Inc. for 36 years and worked there for 62 years from the loading docks on up, died about 10:20 a.m. Tuesday of liver cancer at the home of his daughter, Francie Molinaro, family members said. He was 82.
Under his leadership, Warren maintained and enhanced its position as a prime national hauler of agricultural machinery — including Waterloo made John Deere tractors — through several ownership arrangements and partners, as he fought to maintain his employees’ job security throughout.
In community affairs, Molinaro fought meat packing giant IBP’s coming to Waterloo in the late 1980's, battled development near Sunnyside Country Club, and frowned on government incentives for business projects. But he donated an irrigation system to a municipal golf course, was a driving force in the revitalization of the National Cattle Congress, and he and his wife, Mary Ellen, donated a major gift toward a new Catholic middle school.
But friends recall he wasn't always easy to deal with. “He was an unusual individual,” said retired longtime Waterloo Industries executive Wallace Sulentic. “On one hand he could be the kindest person. On the other hand, boy, he was set in his ways and he would not change when he thought he was right. And he was generous to this community in a lot of ways (that) a lot of people don't know a thing about.
“But he could be cantankerous,” Sulentic said. “He could be obstinate. And when he thought he was right he would just pound, and pound, and pound, until the people he was talking to gave up. That was pretty much Bob. But he was right more of the time than he was wrong.”
“He was a very good friend,” said Tunis Den Hartog, a retired longtime Waterloo accountant and savings and loan executive. “I told him many times I really understood the love-hate relationship, because I loved him but he was the meanest, orneriest son-of-a-gun I ever knew. He'd just get a kick out of it. He was a real guy.”
Molinaro would jump into community projects with zeal. “But he had one fault,” Den Hartog said. “He always wanted the keys. It was because he wanted to be so active in the community. He was committed to the community and the people in it.”
“Bob was the type of guy you'd like for a big brother,” said Fahr Beverage executive Bob Fahr. “He was tough. He was smart. And he had a heart of gold. He would do anything for anybody. It’s a loss for Waterloo.”
Molinaro, a native of Racine, Wisconsin, joined Warren Transport in 1950. A year earlier, George, Jack and Irv Warren — the latter, Molinaro’s father-in-law had launched the company in Burlington, Wisconsin. In 1950, they moved the firm to Waterloo to be close to Deere’s tractor manufacturing operation.
Molinaro worked his way up from loading and driving trucks to the company presidency in 1976. He turned over the reins to Dick Donnelly in March.
Most recently, Bob and Mary Ellen donated $1.2 million toward the construction of Blessed Maria Assunta Pallotta Catholic Middle School near Columbus High School. It’s named after Mary Ellen’s great-aunt, a beatified Roman Catholic nun and missionary.
Molinaro was a recipient of the Cedar Valley Business Monthly Eight over 80 award in 2011.
“Whether he was right or wrong, he was never in doubt,’ said friend and advertising executive Chris Harshbarger. “Those things he believed in, he fought for with all of his might. His commitment to Waterloo was as high as anyone’s could be.”
There was only one group of people he was committed to more. “Definitely, his grandchildren, his family, and Mom (Mary Ellen),” said his daughter, Robin Molinaro-Blonigan. He and Mary Ellen were married more than 60 years.
He will be laid to rest near his late son, Hank, in Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery. Services will be 1 p.m. Monday at St. Edward Catholic Church. Visitation will be Sunday at times to be set at Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel.
[Waterloo Courier, Wednesday, September 18, 2012]
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