By Deb Brubaker
Nick and Pat Burlone, of Riverside, know “Even though Bob has gone on to a better Coffee Club location, we will always see him in his designated seat at the Danville McDonald’s.”
Robert E. West Sr., of Danville, died Sept. 21 from cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer in October 2003, three months after retiring from Merck, where he had worked for 29 years.
Robert never drank a cup of coffee, but one of his favorite pastimes after retirement was going to the Danville McDonald’s, where the guys would discuss all of the world’s problems.
Throughout Robert’s illness, his smile, sense of humor and expressions were priceless and many times left the Coffee Club gang speechless.
“My son taught me to be a good mother,” said Pearl Ashton, of Danville. “He worked real hard for what he had, was lovable, kind-hearted and loved working on cars — taking them apart and putting them back together.”
On Nov. 26, 1983, Robert married the former Judi Bower-Davis.
During his eulogy, daughter Lori Shultz, of Danville, said, “Dad loved his pistachios, nougat candies with Christmas tree centers and restoring cars.”
Sons Joe West, of Berwick, and Robert West Jr., of Danville, recalled “the many, many hours of hands-on experience with Dad as we built, rebuilt and played in the garage.”
Daughter Wendy Smeal, of Danville, said: “Dad became affectionately known as ‘Clyde’ with his stepchildren and friends. This all began when he visited me at college. Hearing a commotion, I looked out to see him with a jar of peanut butter in one hand and a bunch of bananas in the other doing a gorilla-style walk complete with sound. This was around the time the movie ‘Every Which Way But Loose’ was showing with ‘Clyde’ the orangutan. The name seemed fitting, and it stuck.”
Dick McWilliams, of Danville, was friends with Robert for more than 40 years. “We’d talk cars and such — no matter what we started to talk about, it always came around to cars and racing,” he said. “Most of us have brains, but Robert had gears in there.”
Robert, a 1960 Danville High School graduate, was a Jeff Gordon fan and enjoyed going out to eat at the Sunbury Social Club. He liked camping in Winfield, taking his pontoon boat out, cutting it loose and drifting down the river.
In addition to his mother, wife and children, Robert is survived by two sisters, Florence Mae Dietterick, of Danville, and Sherry Jane Cragle, of Sunbury, and nine grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father, Joseph West, and his stepfather, James Ashton, both of Danville.
