Robert John DeAngelis

Quick to smile and sparkling eyes, Robert John DeAngelis was born on December 20, 1934 into a sprawling Italian American family in Cleveland, Ohio to Jennie DiNunzio and Rudolph DeAngelis. He scored the enviable spot as one of the youngest of dozens of cousins and, as a result, got extra love showered upon him by his large extended family. Especially by his Aunt Rose, who sweetly looked after him as a young man when his mother suddenly passed away.

The family was of modest means. His father, who was born in central Italy, mostly made a living by running roadside taverns. He attended Catholic schools in Cleveland, including the all-boys school, Cathedral Latin. Next he attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, where he managed to play football and secure a degree in engineering. He described himself as an average student that just followed whatever his older smarter beloved and more disciplined brother, Russ, did. After graduating, Bob worked at steel mills in Pennsylvania for several years to learn about the steel manufacturing process. The corporate world was not a good fit for him.  Finding himself lacking sufficient career direction or purpose, he enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois to pursue a doctorate in Engineering, specializing in Material Science. To his surprise, he became entranced with the field of Materials, especially the stunning beauty of the crystal imagery of materials under high powered microscopes. At Northwestern, he said he worked harder than he’d ever worked in his life while being mentored by beloved professors and other students.

One evening in 1958 at the Catholic church close to Northwestern campus, the priest approach Bob at the coffee & cookies table after an evening study session and asked Bob to kindly give Maria Pinto a ride home to Wilmette, the bordering town. Maria was visiting from La Paz, Bolivia and staying with the Crowley family, a respected family leading the growing movement to reform certain then-controversial aspects of the Catholic church doctrine in the 1950s-60s. Bob quickly fell in love with Maria, a beautiful quick-witted young woman who shared Bob’s deep commitment to faith and family. They were married in the breath-taking city of La Paz soon after. Their family grew quickly and their small apartment in Evanston was often full of Maria’s family visiting from La Paz for long periods of time. In the mists of what Bob would later describe as chaos, Bob graduated and accepted a teaching/research position at University of Kentucky in the bucolic small town of Lexington. Bob and Maria thought it would be a good place to raise their family and it was.

Surrounded by rolling hills, horse farms, tobacco fields, and stone fences and all the cultural benefits of a college town, the family made a home. Bob loved to ride his bike to work. During summer breaks, the family explored new lands, including Los Angeles, Oak Ridge, TN, and Rio D’ Janeiro, where Bob worked as a research scientist at Caltech, NASA, JPL, and elsewhere. Bob described his teaching style as … just trying to stay two pages ahead of his students. It turned out he was a natural, beloved by hundreds of students now living across the globe. But Bob remained a simple man. Always focusing on family and his deep faith, rooted in the Catholic traditions. He led by example, working hard, with a quiet sense of humor, a sweet smile, taking care of others, and being humble and kind.

After more than twenty-five years at UK, he accepted a position at University of Nebraska, where he learned to ride his bike to the University on icy windy roads. He also met Connie, his neighbor. Connie would become his constant companion for the next twenty years. Similar to Bob, Connie lived simply with family and faith at the center. After being asked to work for the University of Florida at Eglin Air Force Base, Bob and Connie moved to northern Florida to a small town named Niceville in the 1990s. Together, they renovated a cozy home full of big windows and sunlight surrounded by old oaks trees, white sand, pine needles, and a small pond. The house was often full of friends and visitors from across the country. Bob loved to have dinner parties, bake desserts, host church groups, and fish in the pond. He bought a Jeep to drive the long dirt roads to the Range where he worked with people that he admired greatly for their service to our country. Connie and Bob created a strong loving community in Florida. Bob never wanted to leave his cozy home and he didn’t. He endlessly appreciated his community, his neighbors, the trees, the water, the birds, and the hard-working beavers that lived around the pond outside the big kitchen windows of his home.

On January 11, 2026, surrounded by his children and their spouses, Robert, Jacque (Lexington, Kentucky), Gina (San Anselmo, California), Eliana, and Kevin (Louisville, Kentucky) and many others who loved him, Bob passed away peacefully at 91 years old. He cherished his grandchildren, Mattie, Katie, Sophia, Grace, and Reid. He admired their commitment to education, kindness, family, and serving others in their own special ways. He loved his many godchildren and all the “young” folks who he quietly mentored and considered his own.

Dad’s love will always be with us. His smile. His quiet patient listening. His down-to-earth advice about life’s big impossible questions. His struggles. His perseverance in the face of the Impossible. His hope. And his endless ability to see the best in you. Dad was extraordinary and ordinary. In that respect, he was a remarkable person who will be loved forever. May Dad’s memory always be a blessing to all those who loved him.

Donation in his honor can be sent to any Saint Vincent de Paul’s Charity or Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida. No flowers please. The family will provide information about services.

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