- Date Of Birth: October 22, 1930
- Date Of Death: September 24, 2015
- State: Arizona
Robert Eugene Basta of Scottsdale, AZ passed away peaceably with his family at his side at Sherman House Hospice on September 24, 2015. He was born in Oak Park, IL on October 22, 1930 to his parents, Julia Storkan Basta and George Aldrich Basta Sr. Growing up in the Bohemian neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside, Bob attended Robert Burns Grammar School. He spent his summers at Camp Miniwanca near Stoney Lake, MI. While there during WWII, Bob and his older brother, George, helped the war effort by picking cherries at nearby orchards as their workers had gone off to war. After graduating from the Latin School of Chicago in 1948, Bob earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1953. His new career with the Leeds and Northrup Company in North Wales, PA was interrupted by a tour of duty in Japan where he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Once again stateside Bob began his career in Chicago where he met and married Polly Keller, a Kentuckian, and they had three children. His company transferred him to Omaha, NE and then to Canton, OH where he became the District Sales manager of the Akron/Canton office until his retirement in 1979. Shortly thereafter he became a Northwestern Mutual agent, a job he loved. He became a CLU and a ChFC while with Northwestern. Bob is survived by his wife, Polly, three children David (Melissa) Burbank, CA, Mary B. Nelson, Edina, MN, Susan B. Stanley, Bar Harbor, ME, his brother, George A. Basta, Jr. (Sue), Beulah, MI and his cousin Jim Boback (Merlynn), Crystal Lake, IL. Polly and Bob have six grandchildren: Zofie Basta, Birgen, Annika and Nikolaus Nelson and Corbin Olivia and Emma Stanley as well as several nieces and nephews. In addition he is survived by his sister-in-law Johnnie Keller Miller (Robert), Woodstock, GA and his brothers-in-laws, Fred J. Silhanek, Jr., Louisville, KY and Fred Keller (Judy) Wasilla, AK. He was predeceased by his granddaughter Ruby Sue Stanley, his nephew Douglas A. Basta, his sisters-in-law Peggy Keller Silhanek (Fred), Eloise Anderson Basta (George) and his cousin Jeanne Nadherny Buenik (Norb). He was a member of the Board of Public Utilities of Hills and Dales Village, Canton, OH and a member of the ASM International. His many personal interests included family trips, tennis and golf at Brookside Country Club in Canton, Ohio and traveling the globe.
Memorials: He was a great supporter of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, The Stark County Foundation, Hillsdale College, Berea College and Walsh University. Memorial gifts in his name may be given to any one of these organizations or Hospice of the Valley, Phoenix AZ.
