Robert Martin Vermilyea 1938 - 2018

KROMMENHOEK, VERMILYEA, TRACY

Posted By: Connie Swearingen -Volunteer (email)
Date: 1/8/2019 at 21:50:02

Sioux City Journal
16 December 2018

Port Clinton, Catawba Island, Ohio, formerly Sioux City

Robert Martin Vermilyea of Port Clinton (Catawba Island), formerly of Sioux City, passed on to his eternal home in heaven Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, after a long and courageous fight against Frontotemporal Dementia. His loving wife of 58 years, Elizabeth, was at his side when he passed.

A military service for immediate family was held on Dec. 4, 2018 at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Seville, Ohio, with full military honors. Internment followed. To honor Bob a Celebration of Life is being held in the spring of 2019.

Bob was born on April 2, 1938, to Alfred and Cora (Krommenhoek) Vermilyea, in Sioux City. He joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from Central High School. He was on active duty from 1956 to 1959 and served aboard the USS Merrick which saw duty on the west coast, Japan, Philippines and Pribilof Islands.

In 1960, Bob was united in marriage to Elizabeth Ann Tracy. Together they raised two children. Bob was a loving and devoted husband and father.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Bob began a sales management career that took him, with family and pets in tow, to various locations in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma while working in the tire industry. Bob retired in 2005 after a 44-year career. In December 2012, Bob and Elizabeth moved to Port Clinton, Catawba Island, Ohio. Since July 2018, Bob had been at Main Street Memory Care Center in Avon Lake, Ohio. He passed away in the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Avon, Ohio on Nov. 30, 2018.

Bob had a terrific sense of humor, was fun loving, and liked by everyone he met. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed hunting, fishing and boating throughout his lifetime. Bob was baptized in the Christian Reformed Church in Sioux City, and made his Profession of Faith at a young age. He was active in church activities throughout his life until later years and declining health. During Bob's career in the tire business, he with family relocated to different cities and states and attended the Presbyterian Church and Reformed Church in America. He remained a member of Westwood Community Church in Omaha, Neb. He and Elizabeth raised two children; daughter, Tracy Lynn (Mike) Westerfeld of Bath, Ohio, and son, Keith Martin (Debbie) Vermilyea of Edmond, Okla. Bob loved having his family around him. He shared a special and unique relationship with his children, teaching unconditional love. More than anything he loved spending time with them. They feel richly blessed to have had him as their dad. They and Elizabeth will miss him dearly and love him forever.

Bob will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Elizabeth; daughter and son-in-law, Tracy Lynn (Mike) Westerfeld; son and daughter-in-law, Keith Martin (Debbie) Vermilyea; sister and husband, Mary (Wayne) Kolbe of Holiday Island, Ark.; sister-in-law, Audrey Vermilyea of Bloomington, Minn.; his dear aunt, Nellie (Krommenhoek) Magnuson of South Sioux City; in addition to many nieces, nephews, cousins, family members and friends whose lives he had touched along the way.

In addition to his parents, Alfred and Cora (Krommenhoek) Vermilyea, Bob was preceded in death by his brother and sister-in-law, Hank and Tillie Vermilyea of Bloomington, Minn.; brother, William Vermilyea of Bloomington, Minn.; and brother-law and sister-law, Dick and Bonnie Harison of Ponca, Neb.

Donations in memory of Bob may be made to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (marked Research). www.theAFTD.org, phone 267-514-7221.