Obituary of Robert D. Van Winkle

Robert Daniel Van Winkle was born on June 21st, 1928 in Plainfield, NJ. He married Beatrice (Bette) Terrill on October 28th, 1950. They settled in Warren in 1955. Soon after they moved in to their new house, their first child, Douglas, arrived. Their second son, David followed in 1957, and the third child, Linda, arrived in 1964.Bob served in the United States National Guard from 1948 to 1955. Prior to moving to Warren in 1955, Bob had his own business. He was an electrical contractor. He continued running his own business after arriving in Warren. In 1969 he joined the electricians' union, the IBEW Local 102, and closed his business.Once in Warren, Bob joined the Community Volunteer Fire Company. He served as a volunteer firefighter for 42 years. He held many of the officer positions at various times including Assistant Chief. Before Warren had a communications system for the fire department, Bob managed department calls with a backup system in his house. He was also involved in many sport activities with all three of his children.Bob and his wife, Bette enjoyed camping through the years, first in a tent then a pop-up camper, a mid-sized camper and finally in the 90's they purchased a large motor home. While still living in Warren, they spend most of the winters traveling to Florida and other areas of the country. In 1999, they sold the house in Warren and traveled full time. Bette lost her battle with colon cancer on December 29th 2001, while bob was at her side. Bob continued to travel and later settled in Florida. In 2005 he moved back up to the area to be closer to his children and grandchildren. For the past 2 years he has been living at the New Jersey Firemen's Home in Boonton, NJ. He passed on February 23rd 2009 from Alzheimer's. He is survived by his three children, Doug and his wife Betsy of Lopatcong, NJ; Dave and his wife Joanne of Nazareth, PA and Linda of Nazareth, PA and his six grandchildren, Laura, Dan, Andrea, Andy, Michael and James. He is also survived by his sister, Virginia and brother, Allen.The funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 28th at 11 a.m. in the Higgins Home for Funerals, 752 Mountain Boulevard, Watchung. Visitation will be on Friday, February 27th from 2-4 & 7-9 p.m. Cremation will be private.In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the NJ Fireman's Home, 565 Lathrop Avenue, Boonton, NJ 07005 or to the Alzheimer's Association, 400 Morris Avenue, Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834