Robert E. Link

April 8th, very early in the morning, the most exciting thing happened to me. After seven long years, I finally got to see my wife, Ritzy. She looked even more beautiful than I remembered, and my heart pounded like the first time I saw her when we were kids. That blond hair and those legs! My dream had finally come true, but my family didn’t feel happy for this reunion. In fact, just the opposite. My perfect reunion meant that I had passed away.
I know they’re all very sad, already missing the way I would fake trip basically every time I walked by or used word play as much as I could get it in (I just loved to ask for a “Valley Don’t” instead of a “Mountain Dew”).
I was a very young man of 18 when I married that beautiful girl. Actually, she wrote me a note saying “Will you marry me? Circle yes or no,” and I said, “Heck yes!” Couldn’t feature how I could be so lucky! The funny thing is, I was just as crazy about her the last day I saw her as I was the first!
I was still just a boy when I became a Marine and fought in the Korean war. I was a supervisor for John Deere my whole adult life, and when my kids were little, I was also a volunteer fireman for the Bloomfield Township Fire Department. I know it made my family nervous every time that loud fire phone would ring. But at heart, I was always a serviceman, and I was very proud of that quality.
When I retired, I suddenly had all this time and started getting really creative, painting and building things. Not regular things, but odd things, things I would see in my bizarre dreams. I also loved making little gadgets, and no one on Earth made a better back-scratcher than I did! I also liked to go to Isaac Walton to play poker with the fellas and to the Southside Senior Citizen Center.
I always got a kick out of showing people lists I would keep every day. When I say “every day,” I don’t mean it like some days or most days. I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY. I literally wrote down every pound I lifted. Every pound. Every day. I had a map marked with every place I had ever been. In case you’re interested, I was alive 31,751 days. That’s 45,721,440 minutes if you’re wondering.
Ritzy Rae and I were lucky enough to find a nice little church in our neighborhood called Grace Baptist, and we enjoyed going very much. As we got older, it became more difficult, but I was always there in spirit. Nice group of people.
When she finally left this place, my world crumbled. She was my everything. I went to the cemetery every single day because I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her. If I couldn’t be with her physically, I needed to be as close as possible.
Let me also just tell you about that wonderful family of mine. My beautiful daughters, Barbara Farrell and Nancy (and Mike) Burns, each have three wonderful kids. Barbara’s are Angela (and John) Fisher, their sons, Jack and Nick Fisher, Johnny Fratto (and Alyse) and Alexis Cosner (and Scott). Nancy’s kids are Brandon (and Heather) Burns, their sons Boston and Brodie Burns, Austin Burns and Blaire Burns.
I also have a couple sisters who are still on Earth, Virginia Agan and Freida Halsey and my sister-in-law, Myrna (and John) Meadows and all my nieces and nephews whom I loved dearly. The rest of ‘em, my parents, Nina and James, my brothers, Jimmy, Kenny and Larry, my sisters, Helen Radloff and Louise Field, and my grandson, Baby Harold Burns, are in Heaven.
So listen up, kids…. don’t be sad, we’ll see you later! We love you guys. We’re just up here doing the Jitterbug.
- Robert Eugene Link, 4/12/1930 - 4/8/2017
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, April 14, 2017 at Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home, 5400 SW 9th Street. Robert will be laid to rest with military honors at Avon Cemetery. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be directed to the Northern Warren Fire Department.
On-line condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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