Bob attended Oak Grove High School, graduating in 1950. While a student, he participated in choir, Football and Basketball. He went on to graduate from Augsburg College and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He married Deloris in 1954, an elementary school teacher. They had seven children, Debra, Ronda, Kirk, Karl, Kevin, Faith, and Todd. He served as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Calumet, Michigan from 1965 until his retirement in 1998. Along with his ministry, he served on many boards and committees in the Northern Great Lakes Synod and in national church roles, one being a 10 year project to develop a unique National Historical Park. In 2017, Bob received the Charles Follo Award, which acknowledges the work on an individual who has made the most outstanding contribution to the preservation and promotion of Upper Peninsula history. Bob and Deloris developed a close relationship with Tanzania during a sabbatical in 1992 which resulted in them responding to the needs of the people through collaboration with the Eastern and Coastal Diocese in Tanzania. They provided help in building a secondary school, which now serves over 500 students. God has worked through them in multiple ways and Bob gives Him all the glory in everything they do.