Robert Frank Soules, age 95, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at Whispering Willows, an assisted living boarding house in his adopted home of Reno, Nevada. "Bob" Soules was born in LaGrange Ohio, on December 26, 1919 to Frank and Anna (O'Brien)Soules. One of nine children, at age six, upon the death of their mother, he and his younger brother, Edward, were placed in a children's home in Oberlin, Ohio. After transitioning to the foster homes of the Wise and Church families of Wellington, Ohio, Bob finished the eleventh grade and supported himself as a manual laborer. He met Norma Gott, also from LaGrange, at a social event and they were married in the spring of 1941. He entered the U.S. Coast Guard in July of 1942 and was stationed in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. He later transferred to the transport ship U.S.S. Adm. H.T. Mayo which sailed as far as Marseille, France and Okinawa, Japan to bring home POWs and service men rotating out of those WWII theaters. Soon after discharge he took up carpentry in Elyria, Ohio, where he and Norma began a family with sons Craig(Woody) and Brad. Later, moving to Elgin, Illinois, he helped build and manage two theme parks, as well as working on projects such as Chicago's famous Sears Tower, once the tallest building in the world. Upon retirement, he and Norma returned to Elyria in 1982. Long after her passing, he spent his last years in Reno, Nevada, near his sons and grandchild. Known for his warm smile and infectious laugh, Bob's generous and unpretentious nature endeared him to everyone whose life he touched. His greatest joys in life were his 54 year marriage to Norma, showing love and affection for his family, the simple pleasures of sharing good food with good company, getting lost in an adventure movie, and his ever present faith in God. Left to remember him with love and pride are Bob and Norma's sons Woody and Brad Soules, daughters-in-law Sharon and Ann, his granddaughter Katherine Soules(daughter of Woody and Sharon), Bob's sister Helen (Soules)Farrar of Elyria, her husband John, and many nieces, nephews and friends. Please join us for a memorial service honoring his life on October 3, 2015 at 11am at Norton-Eastman Funeral Home, 370 S. Main St., Wellington, OH, Interment at Penfield Cemetery, followed by a recep-tion at Wellington Eagles Hall, 631 S. Main St.

Cemetery Details