Robert Jack Whitehead (1925-2006)

Tess and I were honored to be one of a small group of people to be invited by the family of Bob Whitehead to attend his funeral today. Born in 1925, Bob grew up during the Great Depression in a fatherless home, paying his way through college with his earnings as a pool hustler.

Bob and I shared a common love of strain gage technology as our professional lives ran their course in concert for a number of years. Affectionately known as "SOB" (Sweet Old Bob) by those with whom he worked, he was truly one of a kind.

Tess and I had been invited into his home a number of times, and attended the weddings of all his children as well as the funeral of his daughter following her tragic death while still a young mother. But, listening to the eulogies today, it struck both of us that Bob's greatest success in life was the outstanding job he did of being the father he never had.

Attended by no more than two dozen people (including the family) and conducted at graveside without music, Bob's funeral was the most moving that I've ever experienced. He now rests in a grave adjacent those of his much beloved mother and his daughter.

There's a Micro-Measurements 250BG strain gage tucked away in your casket, Bob, in the event you might ever need it. Goodbye, old friend, and Godspeed on your final journey.