Robert Bonnett

Robert Bonnett, age 79, of the Pines Lake section of Wayne, passed Monday, March 9, 2020 with the comfort of family by his side.

He was born in Jersey City to Eugene and Bertha Bonnett.  Bob was raised in Hillsdale, NJ.  He graduated from Pascack Valley High School with the Class of 1958, having played football all four of his high school years. After high school he graduated from the Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee where he ran track.   He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Clemson University in South Carolina, where he also played football, graduating with the Class of 1965. He was number 29 and played fullback during his college years. He would go on to William Paterson University in Wayne where he graduated with a Masters Degree in Education on May 22, 1971.

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Bob met the love of his life, Barbara McCaig, while in high school.  They were married at Saint John the Baptist church in Hillsdale.

Bob worked for the Matawan Board of Education and soon transferred to the West Essex Regional school system where he taught History to middle school students and later taught 9th grade History at the high school.  Bob was always an athlete and shared his knowledge of sports by coaching track, girl’s lacrosse, and football for the West Essex Board of Education. His family remembers how proud he was to have taken the varsity football team to the State Championship game held at Giants Stadium.

He loved sports including football, jogging, competitive long-distance running, as well as playing tennis with groups in the Pines Lake and the Packanack Lake section of Wayne.  In the 80’s he ran out and bought a set of rollerblades which he loved.  Bob enjoyed fishing, sailing, and reading his book under an umbrella at one of the beaches on Pines Lake. Bob and Barbara spent winter months in Fort Myers, Florida where he again played tennis, shuffleboard, and was even elected President of the Bocce Club.  He was very patient and loved that he taught all his grandchildren how to drive. For many years his grandchildren would come to the house the weekend before Christmas. They would visit the Wayne Hills Mall Christmas Show and create crafts as well as gingerbread houses under his watchful eye.

Bob was a loving and devoted husband to Barbara Bonnett; beloved father of Robert Bonnett, Jr. and his wife June of Woodcliff Lake, Susan Rescinio and her husband Michael of Oceanport, and Brian Bonnett and his wife Meredith of Pompton Lakes; he was the cherished grandfather of Danielle and Nicholas Bonnett, Alyssa and Christopher Rescinio, and Caitlyn and Matthew Bonnett; he was the brother of Marie Bonnett and Jeanne Martine.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital would be greatly appreciated.