Robert G. Allstaedt, Sr.

Robert G. Allstaedt, Sr., age 87, of Wayne, passed away on Saturday, September 4, 2021. He was an especially loved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, son, brother, uncle, and also cherished by countless friends.

Bob was born and raised in Jersey City. His childhood years were spent at 237 Cambridge Avenue in Jersey City and, after graduating from William L. Dickinson High School with the Class of 1952, he attended Jersey City Junior College where he earned an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. Bob’s first venture into the world of full-time work was with Curtis Wright Corporation in Woodridge where he worked as an engineer. In April of 1957, he began service in the U.S. Army and, after serving his country stateside in Fort Lewis Washington, he was honorably discharged and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserves until 1963. In 1959 Bob returned to Curtis Wright and worked there till its closing in 1980. At that point being that he was only 46, he took a job as a bus driver for a couple of years with New Jersey Transit before becoming a school bus driver for Wayne Township Schools. Bob drove the morning and afternoon school runs and also served as the driver for many of the school’s sports teams. He took those skills as a bus driver and drove the buses for the PAL sports teams and was the only one who could make that left hand turn onto P.A.L. Drive in Wayne. All other drivers had to take the long way around. It was on a trip driving the All-Star basketball team to a tournament in Massachusetts that Bob’s speedy driving skills earned him the nickname “A.J. Foyt” after the famous American auto racing driver. Bob made that trip in record time. When asked by countless athletes that he had the privilege of transporting “When are we going to get there?” his response was always “In about a half-hour.” In 1982, Bob vacated his seat behind the big yellow bus to take a job as a driver and repairman with the Township of Wayne Water Department. His truck was number 514. Bob liked that truck because it knew the way to every coffee shop in town. In 2002, Bob retired for good at the age of 67.

As a kid growing up, Bob attended Second Presbyterian Church in Jersey City. He was a regular in the church’s bowling league and so was a cute young girl, six years his junior, named Margaret Hamaid. Bob took to noticing Marge and one day worked up the courage to ask her out. Their first date was to a movie and, while Marge doesn’t recall what movie it was, that first date was the beginning of a beautiful relationship that ultimately led to 58 years of marriage. After dating for about a year, Bob asked Marge’s dad for his permission to marry his daughter. Since that went well, he proposed to Marge at her home in front of her parents, four sisters, and two brothers as witnesses. They exchanged wedding promises on Saturday, March 23, 1963 at Second Presbyterian Church in Jersey City with the ceremony officiated by Reverend Juan Jiminez. After the wedding and reception, the newlyweds took a trip by train to Florida for their honeymoon, and upon their return they settled into a brand new home in Wayne which has been he and Marge’s home for all 58 years of their married lives. There they raised their three sons and one daughter.

If there was a Monument Park at the Wayne PAL to honor the greats, like there is at Yankee Stadium, there would definitely be a plaque dedicated to Robert Allstaedt Sr. His countless years of service to the PAL began as a baseball, basketball and football coach where he coached his three sons, daughter and other young boys and girls in Wayne with that old-school, tough, Bobby Knight style. He also was in charge of scheduling all the umpires for the baseball games and served as chairman of the farm league baseball program. In addition to the PAL sports programs, Bob was involved in a myriad of other PAL programs. As chairman for the Special Projects Committee he was in charge of decorating the annual winter wonderland tour through the PAL building every Christmas. Of course this attraction required someone who could play the role of Santa and Bob did that too. With his wife Marge by his side playing the role of Mrs. Claus, Bob greeted each wide-eyed kid with a “Ho-Ho-Ho” and after letting them sit on his lap, he’d give them a gift. For the PAL New Year’s Eve party Bob would dress up as Father Time and the New Year’s Baby (you’ve’ got to see the picture of that!). When Memorial Day rolled around Bob created the floats for the Memorial Day parade, and for the PAL Bingo nights, Bob sold boards and keepers and served as caller. One time he even called the numbers while dressed in his Santa suit. In 1977 Bob became a PAL trustee later serving as Trustee Vice-President and President. In 1988 Bob became the recipient of the PAL’s first ever Chief’s Award and in 2010 he was honored with the PAL Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding service.

You would think that all that service to the Wayne PAL would have left Bob with no spare time, but with more energy than the Energizer Bunny, he also served as a member on the Wayne Day Committee, as secretary of the North Jersey Jr. Football League, and as a sixty-year member of the Masonic Lodge.

After retirement Bob kept himself entertained with a myriad of different pursuits. If it’s not obvious by now, his favorite holiday was Christmas with New Year’s as a close second. Each year he would haul all the Christmas decorations out of the house and turn his yard into a winter wonderland including giant cutouts of Santa and his sleigh. Word spread quickly that he and Marge were the Wayne PAL’s Santa and Mrs. Claus and they soon started receiving calls from friends asking them to make a cameo appearance at their house for their kids. He also loved painting ceramic figurines of Santa’s, Christmas trees, and anything else having to do with the holiday. Puzzles and poker were a couple of Bob’s other favorite pastimes. There was always a jigsaw puzzle at some stage of completion on the kitchen table and one time he even built a 3-D model of the U.S. Capital. He loved doing word scrambles with his son Ron and once a month Bob and his sons got together for a night of poker. Great times were had with his granddaughters playing games like Rummy 500, Kings in the Corner, and Go-Fish. Bob’s sons turned him onto fantasy football but, suffering from a state of technological deficiency, you could frequently hear him summoning his wife during football season exclaiming “Hey Stink, can you help me with my lineup on this darn computer?”

Bob not only had an appetite for life, he also had an appetite for food. He had the best pickle recipe which earned him the nickname “Mr. Pickles” and he was a regular with his retired PAL trustees at the King George Diner in Wayne which they were affectionately called “The Breakfast Club”. Bob never saw a piece of cake or a cookie that he could pass up and, when he was in the hospital for his diabetes, his daughter Robyn was known to lovingly sneak him in a delicious black raspberry milk shake.

Bob’s sense of humor was out of this world. When the boys were little he opened “Dad’s Barbershop” and used a clipper that was so old and rusty, it pulled hair more than it cut it. When he played poker, the telltale sign that he had a good hand was that he’d start to unconsciously sniffle real loud. Everyone knew it but him. If Bob’s kids had a dollar for every time he said he was going to throw them out of his will, they’d have more money than was in his will. Of course it was just a big game and he didn’t mean it at all. Then there was the standing joke he had with his son Ron which went something like this; at family gatherings, when everyone was saying their goodbyes, Bob would always say to each of his kids, ‘I love you”, except to Ronnie to whom he would just say “Have a good night”. Again, all in jest. And the doozy of all doozies was how he told everyone, “The worst mistake of my life was the day I got married.” This coming from a man who was happily married for 58 years!

The fact of the matter is, Bob adored his wife, children, and grandchildren. In fact, they were his pride and joy. Retirement suited Bob perfectly because it afforded him the time to attend all of his grandchildren’s sporting events, cheerleading competitions, Boy Scout outings and school functions.  He was extremely proud and happy to attend all three grandsons Eagle Scout ceremonies as well as all three grandsons graduations from the United States Marine Corps. He equally adored his great-granddaughter Francesca and even his numerous grand-puppies who he loved to take for rides and sneak food scraps to under the table.

Bob was the most beloved husband of Margaret “Marge” (nee Hamaid), blest in marriage for 58 years. He was the loving father of (except Ron…..he just liked him): Robert Allstaedt, Jr. of Pompton Lakes, Ronald and wife Laurie Allstaedt of Bayville, Raymond Allstaedt of Wayne, and Robyn and husband Russell De Pack of Pompton Lakes; cherished grandfather of: Joshua and wife Cristina, Ryan, and Tyler Allstaedt, and Hailey and Jordan De Pack; adoring great-grandfather of Francesca Jane Allstaedt; dear brother of Julius and wife Audrey Allstaedt of Newton, the late Louis Allstaedt and the late Anna Nungesser; dear uncle of numerous nieces and nephews. He also was loved by his many grand-puppies.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Bob’s name are asked to consider the American Diabetes Association:

To donate by mail:
Make check to: American Diabetes Association
P.O. Box 7023
Merrifield, VA  22116-7023

To donate by phone:  call 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383)

To donate online: CLICK HERE