Robert Joseph “Bob” Scalzo
Robert Joseph “Bob” Scalzo was born May 20, 1923 and died June 14, 2015 after a brief illness.
Bob was predeceased in 2005 by his beloved wife of 57 years, Mary Celeste Alfieri Scalzo. He is survived by his loving partner, Josephine “Jody” Root, nine children: Kathy (Colin Leech-Porter), Celeste Mulrooney, Susan, Robert, Paul, Ann Spencer, David, Judy (Vel Kolde), Tracey (David Gans), eleven grandchildren and one greatgrandson.
The ninth and youngest child of Thomas and Florence Scalzo of Seattle and Mercer Island, Bob graduated from Garfield High School in 1940. Thereafter, the tall, lanky right-handed pitcher was offered a professional baseball contract with the St. Louis Browns. With the approach of WWII and his parents’ urging to attend college, Bob instead chose to attend Washington State University, where he graduated with a degree in civil engineering.
Bob’s college and baseball careers were interrupted by the war; he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy, and served time in the South Pacific with one of the original celebrated “Seabees” engineering units in Guam and the Bikini Atoll.
Bob joined his father and brothers Joe and Vic in the family construction company, the Thomas Scalzo Company. For more than half a century, the company built a substantial portion of the expanding freeway system throughout western Washington, and constructed major portions of the expanded airport facilities at Seattle Tacoma Airport and other airports throughout the state. Later, he founded Robert J. Scalzo, Inc., and with son Paul and Paul’s company continued three generations of Scalzo construction companies.
Bob continued his baseball career as a pitcher with the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast, League.
Bob was active in the Associated General Contractors Assn (AGC) and served as president in 1984. He was a member of the executive committee of the pension fund for the Teamsters Union. For several years, Bob was an arbitrator in construction cases for the American Arbitration Assn (AAA). He was also a member of the Knights of Columbus. Closest to Bob’s heart was his long-time activeparticipation in the parents’ associations for the Rainier School in Buckley, Washington, and the Fircrest School in Seattle, where his son Robert has resided.
Bob and Jody were together for the last seven years of Bob’s long and full life.
Funeral services will be held at St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Mercer Island, on July 16, 2015 at 11:00 AM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to: Rainer School – Hall #2010B, P. O. Box 600, Buckley, WA 98321.
