In Memoriam: Longtime Rumsonite, Volunteer, Rumson Country Day & Oceanic Library Board Member, Bob Boyle Sr., 86

Longtime Rumsonite, Rumson Country Day School and Oceanic Free Library board member and volunteer with many non-profits, Robert “Bob” Leonard Boyle Sr. passed away peacefully on Friday, Aug. 12 “amid the prayers of many.” He was 86.

Bob Boyle Sr.
Photo/family via Thompson Memorial Home

“Bob lived by the credo ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31).’ He was a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather and great grandfather, a good friend, a gentle spirit. He was strong in his faith and served as a Eucharistic Minister for many years at his parish Church of the Nativity. He loved travel, swimming, newspapers, the beach, spy novels and all his friends, especially the Fatmens Club and the Monmouth Beach lunch crowd.”
Loved ones of Bob Boyle Sr. in his obituary

Bob was born on Sept. 22, 1935 to John and Katherine Boyle, of Jersey City and Allenhurst. After graduating from The Peddie School and Seton Hall University, Bob took on leadership positions in The Hudson Dispatch Newspaper Corporation, Union City and the John F. Boyle Box Company, Jersey City and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Trust Company, UJB Financial and Summit Bancorp for more than 20 years.

Known as civic- and community-minded, he served on many boards as a trustee and officer, including: Monmouth Medical Center Foundation, St. Peter’s University, Visiting Nurses Association Health Group, The Catholic Advocate, Rumson Country Day School, New Jersey Press Association, Supreme Court of New Jersey Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, Oceanic Free Library, Parents Support Group of New Jersey among them.

Bob married Rita Morgan at her parent’s home in Allenhurst, New Jersey, in 1957 and they embarked on the adventure of raising seven children in Rumson. Together, their curiosity led them to a lifelong passion for travel and taking up new activities like skiing in Lake Placid and around the world, often with their children in tow and in later years with the “Rusty Edges”.

His wife Rita predeceased him in 2010.

Bob leaves behind: seven children, Kathy Stewart (Malcolm), Bobby Boyle (Tracy), Peter Boyle (Laurie), Rita Boyle, Sharon Warren (Joe), Jim Boyle (Sasha), John Boyle (Gretchen); 16 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren who will carry on his legacy of kindness and generosity of spirit.

There will be no visitation. A mass of christian burial will be celebrated at the Church of the Nativity, Fair Haven, on Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 10 a.m.. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Middletown, and thereafter by a celebration of life at the Rumson Country Club.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via Thompson Memorial Home