Robert "Bob" Kline
Robert (Bob) Kline proudly described himself as American-made with Italian roots. He grew up surrounded by his maternal Leone Family in Dover, Ohio, with a childhood full of running around the neighborhood with his cousins, Sunday sauce dinners, and getting called a ‘chooch’ endearingly by his elders.
Bob worked for 40 years as a case manager and school-based counselor. He fell in love with his coworker Tracy (Hedges), who became his wife of 28 years. Together, they raised two brilliant kids, Emma and Tony. Bob adored all of his children, both the ones that he taught and the ones that he raised.
In his free time, Bob loved to explore this nation’s natural beauty. He camped in every state but Alabama and Hawaii over the course of his life. He planned wonderful road trips for his family every summer to different National Parks and was an avid photographer, taking pictures everywhere he went. When not on the road, he was a voracious reader with a head stuffed full of trivia. He could explain to you everything from the rituals in sumo wrestling to the difference between Detroit and New York-style pizza. Above all else, he was someone who had never met a stranger and loved to make people laugh. In serious moments you couldn’t make eye contact with him because his impish expression would make you giggle. When we asked Bob what we should say about him after he was gone, he suggested the following: “Say what you want about the guy, but he had a lot of stuff.” His friends all knew him as irreverently funny and ferociously loyal. He was a solid guy.
Bob was diagnosed with Glioblastoma in November of 2022. He embraced his cancer journey with more grace and humor than could be asked of anyone, even arranging in the end to donate his brain to science (as he made the doctors agree, it was too magnificent of a specimen to go to waste). His brain surgeon and medical team noted that he had a thick skull and very stubborn DNA, which was surprising to no one who knew him.
Robert Kline died on February 6, 2024 in his home as his wife promised. He is preceded in death by his parents Robert Kline and Mary Kline (Leone), his beautiful sister Martha Carrey (Kline), his favorite cousin Linda Murakami (Marks) and friend Mark Caswell. He is survived by his wife Tracy, children Emma and Anthony, Nephews Matthew Wydick and Joshua Wydick, Nieces Nikki Smith (Judah) and Alisa Bray, Great Niece Josephine Bray and Great Nephew Damion Manning, as well as numerous cousins and a multitude of friends.
There will be a celebration of life for Bob on April 13, 2024 at Alfredo’s at the Inn, located at 780 Beta Drive Mayfield Village, OH 44143 from 1-5pm. Please bring your favorite Bob stories to share at the open mic. While we know there will be tears, he made us promise to fill this event with laughter.