Robert Gary Lafferty

Bob was born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, when his father was missing in action in WWII France.

Loved by many for his warmth, his wit, his kindness and his curiosity. Not to mention his delicious cooking. He adored feeding everyone, and his chicken broth was both elegant and medicinal.

Contracting polio at age 2 caused several hospitalizations throughout his youth and left him with lifelong paralysis. His refusal to let disability and pain rob him of a full and happy life was inspirational. From childhood on, he looked far beyond earthbound, physical limits. His first and lifelong love was astronomy. How fitting that he left us on the full moon.

Bob was not defined by a handicap. He rode horses, coached his son's baseball and roller hockey teams, learned to fly small planes, and competitively raced his beautiful sailboat, Luna.

Bob was an engineer with endless interest in how things worked. He brought home the very first Apple computer, to the delight of the neighborhood.

After college, Bob moved to San Francisco in the Summer of Love, 1967. He somehow managed to partake in that unique era while still being a hard-working engineer on the team designing BART.

When he returned to the east coast a decade later he stayed with Sea Cliff friends. There he met his wife Gail, at the very first Sea Cliff Food Co-Op. They set off on a 42 year love affair, sharing countless happy times (and lots of Italy).

His happiest role was father to his children, Johanna (McAdams) and Max. He believed in exposing kids to travel, learning, and mostly, just plain fun. When his precious granddaughters Sylvie & Lily came on the scene, he experienced the most joyous and silliest time of his life. He loved his son-in-law Daniel as one of his own, and he was overjoyed when their family moved back to Sea Cliff in 2018.

Bob loved learning. He posted this quote on Facebook 10 days before he died:

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then - to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."

― T.H. White, The Once and Future King

This man, Bob Lafferty, loved life, loved people, loved nature, loved science, loved art, loved fun.

He loved us.

Love came so easy to him.

May his memory be a blessing.

There will be a gathering in honor of Bob's memory at Johanna and Daniel's home on Saturday November 23 from 4-8PM. All are welcome.

Contact Whittings or the family for location information.