Robert E. Wiltz

Robert Eugene Wiltz July 27, 1936 – Nov 20, 2024 (age 88) A boy named Sue Robert “Bob” Eugene Wiltz, of Colts Neck, NJ, passed away Wednesday, November 20, 2024 in Shrewsbury, NJ. He is survived by his wife, Ann (Flaherty) Wiltz, children Melissa Sciarrillo and her husband Anthony, James Wiltz and his wife Raphaela, Thomas Darrough, Jana Schroeder, and Julie Zilke and his grandchildren Dylan and Sean Sciarrillo, Maximilian and Philipp Wiltz. He was predeceased by his son Douglas Wiltz. Bob was born in Seneca, Kansas on July 27, 1936. He was the first of three children (younger sisters Rosie and Connie) born to Albert Wiltz and Allie (Devor) Wiltz. Bob excelled in school from an early age and was always trying to improve his situation. He started the first fireworks stand in his small farm town at the age of 12 to pay for his own clothes and to join the Boy Scouts. As a young boy, he played trumpet and taught himself tennis through dedicated hours spend hitting tennis balls against a wall. A Different Drum After graduating Marysville High School in 1954, Bob enlisted in the US Navy. He was stationed at Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NASJAX) and did a world-spanning tour on the aircraft carrier USS Forestal. In 1958, Bob left the Navy and took advantage of the GI Bill to attend Kansas State University, majoring in Electrical Engineering. He completed his BSEE 4-year program in less than 3 years, graduating with honors. He took his first job at Texaco in Bellaire, TX as a design engineer. He quickly moved on to Honeywell in Minneapolis, MN and was proud to be a program manager on guidance and navigation systems for the Apollo space program. Bob took a job as vice president of the G. T. Schjeldahl Company in Minnesota in 1966. In January 1968 he travelled to Vietnam in support of company programs during the early days of the Tet Offensive. His transport plane landed at Saigon Airport while it was under attack. Bob survived the ordeal and even donned a uniform and stood guard due to the extraordinary circumstances. In 1969 he formed a start-up company, Athena systems, seeking to create a universal reader for credit cards. A patent was received for their design however, unable to raise the second round of funding, the company did not survive. In 1972, Bob began a business that he would maintain on the side for the rest of his career. He started Wordsmith while living in Nashua, NH. This was a technical writing service, and allowed him to exercise his love of both technology and writing. Time in a bottle Bob moved to Newburyport, MA in 1975 as the general manager of Contherm, a manufacturing subsidiary of a Swedish company, Alfa Laval. He truly enjoyed his time in a recently refurbished warehouse loft in downtown Newburyport. He hosted Friday night parties for his employees routinely and at one of those parties in 1976 met Ann Flaherty. They began a relationship that would last the rest of his life. The following year on January 7, 1977, during a major snow storm that dropped 22 inches of snow, Bob and Ann were married. They moved into small house and in 1979, their first child, Melissa, was born. In May of 1980, they were off to Maplewood, NJ due to Bob’s promotion to Vice President and General Manager of Alfa Laval in Fort Lee, NJ. Bob continued to be an excellent tennis player and to purse his other hobbies of gardening and woodworking both creating furniture and refinishing antiques. He was proud to have built child sized furniture for Melissa and creatively furnish their Maplewood home. In 1981, their son James was born. Skill and Courage In 1985, Bob and Ann purchased a farmhouse outside of Frankfurt, KS. They refurbished the 1888 limestone house and spent 2 weeks each summer for several years with the children, showing them a different kind of life. The farm led Bob and Ann to take on a new interest that would take them to their final home. Horseback riding and fox hunting became an instant passion for them and incentivized them to move from Maplewood to Colts Neck, NJ. In Colts Neck they purchased several horses that lived on their property, cared for by Ann and to some degree Melissa and James. Both children pursued riding and they rode as a family with the Monmouth County Hunt Club. Pursuing new interests, Bob and his friend Bob Rustico formed their own company, Techmark, in the late 1980’s. This company focused on marketing equipment for industrial manufacturing and processing. Additionally, Bob worked Wordsmith jobs privately and was proud to have written all manuals and documentation for the i-STAT portable blood analysis system. Not today, today I’m a cowboy Bob coached James’s second grade little league baseball team and although he was beloved by the players, had to admit that James was not interested in baseball and allowed him to quit the following year. In the early 1990’s, seeking to make use of his woodworking hobby, Bob started the Itinerant Yankee Peddler. Bob and James, traveled to Maine and New Hampshire to attend antique estate auctions. They would purchase antiques at a bargain, often requiring some repair. When they returned, Bob refinished and repaired the furniture and then displayed it in their home. Bob published a photo newsletter and distributed it to antique dealers and interior decorators in the local area. It was a fun business and managed to have some successful sales for few years. More importantly it allowed Bob to spend time with his son sharing something he enjoyed. Ann and Bob had frequented auctions since they met and it was a passion of theirs throughout their life together. In 1999, Bob was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Despite a poor prognosis, he survived the removal of one kidney and the partial removal of the other. He made a full recovery. Think it’ll work...it’d take a miracle After Melissa and James graduated college and started their careers, Bob joined Ann in her career as a real estate agent. They worked as a pair, with Bob’s charm and logical approach complimented Ann’s diligent and caring approach. During this time, Bob also pursued a lifelong desire to write fiction. He worked with his friend Bob Rustico and published 4 novels: The Psychic, Seed Money, Reflections, and Staircase B. Bob collaborated with his friend on chapter outlines and then took on the arduous task of writing the final prose on by himself. All of them are still available as eBooks on Amazon. Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch Bob was a proud father of the bride at Melissa’s wedding to Anthony Sciarrillo in 2005. He danced all night and was seen with Ann in a cluster of friends ordering pizza well after midnight on the porch of the hotel. In 2007, Bob became a grandfather to Dylan Sciarrillo. Bob eagerly and enthusiastically took to his role as an intensely involved grandfather. He cared for Dylan multiple days a week and formed a lifelong bond. He redoubled his efforts in 2010 when Sean Sciarrillo was born. Bob continued the tradition he had with his own children, allowing the kids to call him by his first name. Puttin’ on the Ritz In 2019, Bob and Ann and Melissa and Anthony and Dylan and Sean flew to Germany to attend James’s wedding to Raphaela Czempiel. Bob and Ann once again danced the night away, leaving near midnight. James and Raphaela moved to the US in 2019 and despite the restrictions of COVID, Bob was able to meet James and Raphaela’s first son Maximilian Wiltz shortly after his birth in 2020. Bob welcomed Max’s little brother, Philipp Wiltz when he was born in 2022. Sunday Morning, Coming Down During the final years of his life, Bob suffered from dementia and died from complications related to it on 20 November, 2024. Bob was a generous and loving man who was sometime shy, but was often the life of a small group. He professed that the best thing to do in a party is stand in the corner and wait for your group to find you. He loved music and movies, he loved to dance, ski, play tennis and ride horses. He was a creator through his woodworking, gardening, and writing fiction. He was a loyal father to his children. He helped Melissa move into a college apartment with a still functioning drain from his kidney surgery taped to his side. When James’s car broke down at night on the way home for Thanksgiving, 250 miles away, he put on his coat and said “call when you know what garage you’re going to, I’m leaving now” and made the 500-mile round trip to pick James up and bring him home (at age 68). He was proud to have a mastery of many areas of knowledge and to have traveled extensively. Most of all, he was strong, truly open, and honest with his family about his love and devotion for them. He told them and showed them every day of his life and is truly missed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be placed with https://www.ourhousenj.org/donate/ . Please join us in celebrating the life of Bob Wiltz. An open house gathering for family and friends to come together and share memories. January 11, 2025 3pm - 6pm 81 Heyers Mill Road Colts Neck, NJ 07722 We would love for you to join us anytime during the gathering. Light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to sharing this special time with you. The family of Bob Wiltz

Robert E. Wiltz

July 27, 1936 - November 20, 2024