As a good and faithful servant, Bob, as he was known to his friends, lived his faith and held it up as an enduring guide in his life. Every major event in his life he sought the Lord’s will through prayer. This faith brought Loretta into his life, his loving wife of 54 years. Every career change he made, every move he considered for his family, of which there were many, he turned to Christ in prayer.

Born in Brooklyn, at the young age of 8, Bob relocated with his family to Peru. That first journey by train and steam ship through the Panama Canal ignited his love of bridges and trains. This fascination led to his long and varied career in civil engineering. His education by the Augustinian Fathers at Colegio Santa Rosa in Lima, Peru, was formative in developing him into the formidable man he was. Some of his favorite projects were The Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel in Virginia, the Superconductor SuperCollider in Texas, the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, the Exxon/Cerrejon Coal Project in Colombia, South America, the Baltimore Light Rail System and the Coleman Bridge in Virginia.

His mathematical mind was a thing of legend. He could remember the location of the elements on the Periodic Table 60 years after learning it in college and taught it to his grandson Thomas when he was 83 years old. Anyone who ever spent any time around Bob knew his knowledge of history and science was vast, and his storytelling was legendary.

A son of immigrants, Bob was especially proud that his father, Mateo, emigrated from Croatia through Ellis Island at the age of 14, because he wanted to be an American. This was the root of Bob’s patriotism, which remained a deeply held love of country all the days of his life.

Drafted into the Army in 1958, and stationed in Germany, this continued what would become a lifetime of travel. His love of other cultures and joy of learning, affinity for languages, of which he spoke many, propelled him to new adventures and exceptional opportunities. He never met a stranger and was incapable of unkindness. He garnered respect from the many men and women he worked with wherever his work took him, both for his incredible math mind and for his fair and egalitarian approach.

He is preceded in death by his father Mateo, mother Augusta and brother Martin Obradovic.

He is survived by his loving wife Loretta and four devoted daughters, Anastasia Obradovic of Yorktown, Natasha Vance (Rick) of Boston, Mass., Jessica Pearson (Matthew) of Carey, N.C., and Mattia Goddard (Bob) of Valdosta, Ga.; his grandsons, Bobby Goddard (Mikaela) of Atlanta, Ga., Thomas Vance of Boston, Mass., Ethan and Aiden Proctor, Sam and Luke Pearson; and his two granddaughters, Raquel Goddard and Olivia Vance, both of New York, will continue his tremendous legacy.

He loved reading the Psalms and he asked his daughter, Jessica, to read them to him in his final days.

In tribute to Robert Luke Obradovic, a proud Catholic, a man with such deeply held faith, his family will celebrate his joyful passage to heaven with a funeral mass at his parish, St. Patrick’s, this Saturday, March 11, at 11 a.m. The family will receive visitors Friday, March 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bolling, Grose & Lotts Funeral Home in Buena Vista.

Arrangements are being handled by Bolling, Grose, & Lotts Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

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