Robert Henry "Bob" May

Robert (Bob) Henry May, 82, most recently of Commerce, Georgia (Northridge Nursing Home), died on Friday morning, August 23, 2013, following a prolonged illness. He was born on March 15, 1931, in Bergenfield, New Jersey to Adam May and the former Mabel Stewart (May). Bobby - as he was known then - spent his formative years in nearby Hoboken, attending boarding school at the prestigious St. John the Divine Cathedral School in Manhattan, where he was a member of the New York City Boys Choir for four years, and then onto Bergenfield High School, where he was a distinguished athlete, excelling in baseball and football.
Bob married Emma Josephine Rives (May) of St. Albans, New York on September 26, 1953, in Annapolis Maryland. Married to Bob for 60 years, Emma Jo survives him, and currently resides at Bentley Assisted Living in Jefferson, Georgia.
Bob worked most of his long professional career for two companies, first from 1949 to 1961 with the Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company, where he rose from the mail room ranks to chief of the educational films library system, and then from 1961 until his retirement in 1994, with the Fort Howard Paper Company and successor corporations, rising from a local sales agent to the position of Senior National Marketing Manager and a member of the President's Club. Mr. May also served in the U.S. Army Reserves - Active Duty, from 1951-1957, earning the rank of Sergeant First Class.
He enjoyed reading, music, television, politics, sports, and hearing about the exploits of his children and grandchildren. He was an accomplished recreational bowler, scoring several 600 game series, and had a high percentage one-handed set shot with a basketball. He relaxed with gardening and good scotch. A talented singer in his own right, he reveled in the crooners of his day, especially Sinatra, with whom he once accompanied as a choir member on stage at Madison Square Garden.
Married 60 years, Bob and Emma Jo lived, raised a family, and retired in venues in or around Hoboken, New York City, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Tulsa, Cherry Hill (NJ), Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, and Peachtree City, Jefferson, and Commerce (GA). He is survived by five children: Nanci May Lazar (Naperville, IL), Donald R. May and his wife April (Powhatan, VA), Christine May Grabowski (Arlington Heights, IL), Cynthia May Gumucio and her husband Cesar (Athens, GA), and James R. May and his wife Kathleen Siren (Wilmington, DE); and, 11 grandchildren: Leah and Lauren Gumucio, Zachary and Alex Lazar, Rachel and Mason Grabowski, Jameson May and Isabella Siren, and Lillian, Robert James, and Addison May. He is also survived by his brother Donald May and his wife Barbara (Tuscon, AZ), and more than a dozen nieces and nephews.
Funeral arrangements are through Lord & Stephens, EAST, in Athens, GA. A memorial funeral mass will be held at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, August 31, 2013, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, 134 Prince Avenue, Athens, GA, 30601, with a reception to follow at the offices of Cesar A. Gumucio, M.D., 489 N. Milledge Ave., Athens, GA, 30601. The family requests that donations be made to the Hospice Angels Foundation, 401 Center Avenue, Bay City, MI, 48706, www.hospiceadvantage.net.