OTTO ROBERT W

Robert "Bob" W Otto was a VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 05/21/2018 at the age of 83.9
Sewickley, PA
Flight Class 58-5
Date of Birth 07/01/1934
Served in the U.S. Army
Served in Vietnam with 394 TC DET in 66-67, 129 AHC in 66-67, 520 TC BN in 67, 34 GS GRP in 69-70
Call sign in Vietnam BIG STOGIE 8
This information was provided by Obit

More detail on this person: Robert Warren Otto, 83, passed from this life to the next Monday, May 21, 2018. He died of natural causes at Good Samaritan Hospice in Beaver, Pa., surrounded by family and blanketed in love. Bob was born and raised in LaCrosse, Wis. He received his civil engineering degree from UW-Madison and received a PhD from Northwestern University in 1971. Bob retired as an Army Lt. Colonel. He served two tours in Vietnam as an Army Aviator and six years in the office of the Army Chief of Staff, four of those as Director, Army Automation Planning. Bob received several Air Medals, Bronze Stars and a Legion of Merit in recognition of his service. After military service he worked as a market research executive for a short time before becoming a professor of computer information systems and quantitative methods at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky., where he taught for 25 years. In retirement, Bob found great pleasure perfecting his intarsia woodcraft and maintaining his pond and garden in Bowling Green, where his 10 grandchildren spent many happy summer days. He and his wife, Rita, moved to Sewickley in late 2016 to live with their daughter. His puppy, Ginger, and his very, very old cat, Dahlia, kept him busy here along with the never-ending yard work. He is greatly missed but resting peacefully with his son, Thomas Otto, his father, Harold Otto and his beloved mother, Helen Keenan Otto. Bob is survived by his loving wife, Rita, his son, James Otto (Kathy), his daughter-in-law, Jane Otto and his daughter, Julia Poepping (Mark), a brother, Lawrence Otto, and sisters, Patricia Ruetten and Marilyn DeCoursin, along with 10 grandchildren, Mark Otto, Maura Palzewicz (Harry), Nicole Greene (Matt), William Otto (Rachel), Bennet Poepping (Kyla Dolan), Robert Otto, Mathew Otto (Karly), Alexis Otto, Thomas Poepping and Paul Otto, and five great-grandchildren, Abram, Edwin and Mabel Palzewicz and Sadie and Sophie Greene. His remains will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery and gatherings in celebration of his life are being planned in Sewickley, and LaCrosse, Wis.

Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery

This information was last updated 10/26/2020

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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024