Robert Lee Gonzales

Robert Lee Gonazles passed away in his home on the afternoon of January 2, 2023, at the age of
82. He is survived by: his five children; Robert and wife Sue, Gregory and wife Jodee, Antonia
and husband, Gary Herbert, Katherine and husband Mark Marek and Thomas; eight
grandchildren: Robert, Jacob, Taryn, Lauren, Shannon, Eric, Daniel, and Zephyr and his two
siblings, Elena and Marcus. Bob was born in Denver, Colorado on November
2, 1940 to Lee B. Gonzales and Sarah Gonzales (née Romo). He was the fourth of seven children.
The Gonzales family moved to San Francisco when he was just two years old and adopted the
city as their own. He is a graduate of Balboa High School. In 1958, he joined the Army and
served during the end of the Korean war. After the Army, he met his wife, Mary, while attending
San Francisco City College through the Cardinal Newman Club, whom he married in 1963. They
were married for 45 years before Mary’s passing in 2008.
Bob worked in law enforcement for nearly forty years. In 1965, Bob worked for the San
Francisco Police Department beginning his career as a Fingerprinting Technician. From 1967-
1982 he served as an Institutional Police Officer at San Francisco International Airport. He later
served as an Institutional Police Sergeant for over ten years at San Francisco General Hospital.
He retired as a Sergeant at Hastings College of the Law in 2003 after fifteen years of dedicated
service. Bob attended San Francisco State University and received his B.A. and subsequently his
master’s degree in Sociology, all while raising his family with his wife.
He was known and celebrated for his sense of humor and his mischievous spirit. His hobbies and
interests were numerous and varied. He was a collector of just about everything: baseball cards,
coins, Jim Beam bottles, and was even a past president of his bottle collector’s club. He was an
avid card and domino player. A lifelong Giants fan and 49er Faithful, he was a fervent lover of
sports— frequently yelling at the teams from his chair. He loved classic westerns and game
shows. He also traveled widely, especially on the many cruises he took with his wife. He was an
energetic and loving father and husband, and an equally attentive grandfather. To those that
knew and loved him he was a constant source of dependability and joy whose vigor for life and
those he loved was evident in everything that he did. He will be deeply missed.
He will be laid to rest at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, California. There will
be a service to celebrate Bob’s life at Ouimet Brothers Concord Funeral Chapel at 4125 Clayton
Rd, Concord, CA on January 18, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. A funeral mass will be held in his honor at
St. Agnes Parish at 3966 Chestnut Ave, Concord, CA 94519 on January 20, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.

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