Robert P. Stefkovich

Robert Pilan Stefkovich, 95, fortified with the Sacraments of the Holy Mother Church, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on May 22, 2026. Beloved husband of the late Patricia, nee Neises, for 56 years. Loving father of Gale Schnetzer (late Paul), Nancy Crippin (Jeff) and Lynn Behnke (Dan). Cherished “Pops” to Vicki (David), Michael (Katie), Sarah (Drew), Katie (Johnny), Janie, Lily, Ellen, Will and Henry. Great-grandfather of Sam, Alex, Cecilia and Elizabeth. Brother to Emil (Sandra) Stefkovich.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Elizabeth Stefkovich and his brother, Walter Stefkovich. 

Born on April 11, 1931 in Franklin, N.J., Bob’s given name was Robert Joseph Pilan. He was known as “Joey” to his friends and family throughout his life. His name was officially changed to Robert Pilan in elementary school and he eventually assumed the name “Bob”.

At Franklin High School, he served as class president his senior year. He was a good student as well as an excellent athlete in several sports. He found his love of baseball in his early teens and excelled on the high school team, earning all-state honors three times, which led to an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. During college, he spent summers honing his skills as a pitcher in the collegiate summer leagues on the east coast. He entertained offers from major league baseball teams but was determined to finish his degree. During college, he worked part-time jobs including setting pins at a bowling alley and at the South Bend Studebaker auto plant.

While at Notre Dame, he met his wife, Patricia, a school teacher, whom he married in April, 1953.

Bob graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Notre Dame in 1952. He then entered the Navy Officer Candidate School. He served in the Navy from 1953-57 earning the title of Lieutenant as well as in the Navy reserves until 1967. Notable was Bob’s time spent in the special operations deep sea diving unit conducting wreckage salvage operations which took him to Hawaii and Key West, FL as well as many other oceanfront locations.

Bob’s outgoing personality and work ethic led to a successful career in sales and marketing for several companies spanning the sporting goods, housewares and furniture industries. Eventually, he settled in Cincinnati, Ohio and opened his own manufacturers’ representative firm in 1969.

As a member of All Saints Parish in Kenwood for over sixty years, his Catholic faith guided him throughout his life. Bob will be remembered by his kindness, sense of humor, love for his family and, of course, posing as the family photographer on every occasion.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Loveland Health Care Center for their care and attention to Bob over the last few years.

Visitation at Gilligan Funeral Home, 8225 Montgomery Rd., Friday May 29, 9-10 a.m. followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 10:30 a.m., Saint Vincent Ferrer Church, 7754 Montgomery Rd. Interment following at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Article by Patti Baldridge from Loveland Care Center

IN THE NEWS

August 10, 2023

Robert Stefkovich : Born in April of 1931

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Robert, better known as Bob, and getting to know him. He…. Has a story!

Bob is 1 of 3 boys. He “was raised as an only child until he went to college. That’s when his brothers Walter and Emil came along.” He spoke a lot of his father and how much of an influencer he was in his life.

Bob’s first memory as a child, and one that to this day, he still prays upon. When he was 8 years old., they lived in Northern New Jersey. The house they lived in was up on a hill. At the bottom of this hill, was a railroad. It was a dual railroad. One of them was used regularly. It was the New York Central Track. “Trains back and forth all of the time”. The other was the Lackawana Track. This one was used but not very often. He and his German Shepherd, Mitsy, decided they were going to go fishing at a reservoir up the way. They walked down the hill to the tracks. They were walking along the track that was not used too often. As they walked up the track, he noticed the train horns blowing. He looked back, “that’s for the other track since it is used all of the time” (you know where this is going right?!). “That whistle kept blowing and blowing. Why is it still blowing?? I look back and the train was on MY track! I quickly jumped over the bank and, I didn’t know it until now, but there was a big blackberry patch over there. Yes, that’s where I landed”. I asked how close the train got before he realized what was happening. “ooohh, about 100 feet behind me. That is one of many things that I pray to God to for saving me. I never told my parents. I really didn’t want to hear the wrath” (with a little chuckle). “I remember when I was lying there in the blackberry patch, looking up at the train and the caboose passed. There was a guy on there waving his fists and yelling. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but he looked mad”. I am sure you could guess the things he was saying Bob. We both had a chuckle.

When Bob was 11, he went to a boy’s summer camp for a couple of years. There was a camp counselor there named Jack Glynn. He started a baseball team amongst the boys. Bob was the team’s pitcher. Jack observed him and saw great potential. Bob was very good! He played on the high school baseball team. He always kept his grades up and did very well on the team. Jack had connections. He wanted Bob to move forward. Bob graduated 7th in a class of 90!

Two weeks after high school ended, Bob had received a letter and had been accepted to Notre Dame! They wanted him to play baseball as well as football. Knowing the injuries that could happen with playing football, Bob’s father did not want him to play and would not sign the paperwork for football but he did for baseball. At the time, Bob didn’t understand why his father would not sign the papers for football and he was angry at him for it. Bob’s father received a phone call one day. It was from a gentleman named Jake Kline. He wanted Bob to go to a baseball camp to prepare for the next season. So off to Bennington Vermont he went! His father took him to New York where Bob boarded a train to his next destination. “Kind of ironic isn’t it Bob? That you had to get on a Train!!”. He looked at me puzzled for a second. Then he gave one of his little chuckles and said “You know, after all of these years, I never looked at it that way. Yes, that is ironic”. Bob did so well during college, he had offers from the Philadelphia Phillies as well as the Detroit Tigers.

Bob did not go to either team. He met his wife Pat during his college years. He smiled as he remembered her telling him she wanted him to meet her parents. With a little chuckle he said, “I knew this was going somewhere at that moment. This was happening fast.” After meeting her parents, she stated she wanted to meet his. He didn’t have a car and his only means of transportation was the train. We looked at each other and chuckled at the irony. Pat was a teacher and she had the only income at the time between the two. She bought their first car. A 1953 Chevy. Her parents co-signed with the stipulation that Bob get a job and help her pay it off. I asked how much that was. He had a little trouble remembering the exact cost. “I think it was around $2,000.00 or so”. What we wouldn’t give to have a brand new car these days that ONLY cost 2 grand huh?! With the new car, they were off to meet Bob’s parents!

Bob’s major at Notre Dame was in business administration. He was in the ROTC program as well. This gave him deferments from the WWII draft. Once out of college, he went to the NOCS - Navy Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island. Here, he ended up in the deep sea diving program. He did this program for 6 months. Once that was completed, he went to Hawaii and was assigned to the USS Gypsy. When there was a shipwreck or a plane crash, this was the dive team they sent in.

Bob and Pat had 3 children. All girls. Gail who lives here in Loveland. Nancy who lives in St. Louis and Lynn who lives in Dayton. He has a total of 9 grandchildren.

Bob has had an interesting life to say the least. He thanks God every day for all of his mishaps and his blessings. He was such a pleasure to talk to! I know he has more stories to tell and we will go over those one day soon.

I’d like to thank his children for allowing us to take care of him! He has a little bit of adjusting to the surroundings but I think he is certainly starting to open up!

Thank you, Bob… For sharing your stories with me!

Patti Baldridge