Robert Milton Gryb, passed away early Saturday morning, January 30, 2021, after a short illness.
Bob was born in Mt. Vernon, NY on November 27, 1925, to Elizabeth Woodward and Fred Gryb. He had a sister, Dorothy Newbery who pre-deceased him. His mother and father met each other at a dance as they both loved music and so Bob grew up with the sound of music. He also loved math and science and enlisted into the U.S. Navy in 1943 where he was assigned to an officer training program. He received a B.S. in electrical engineering and a commission as an Ensign and served on the AKA 9 as a deck officer. He served from 1943 to 1946. At the end of the war, he joined AT&T and was assigned to Bell Labs where he developed some of the first digital data modems and systems.
During the Korean War, he worked on a Navy Contract serving on AGC's which, back then, was the communications flagship that controlled all the ships, landing craft, aircraft, tanks, and personnel that participate in an amphibious landing.
Later he was on the American Standards Association helping to institute one standard computer code now called ASCII. He also served on the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) representing the USA to help ASCII become an international standard. He became Director of Business Research for AT&T headquarters and completed 38 years with the Bell System, as it was known. He managed a consulting business for another 5 years after his retirement from AT&T.
He married Florence Hamer and had three children, Barry, Susan and Ron, while living in New Jersey. After 30 years of marriage, Florence passed away. He meet his recent wife, Sandra Nobel Anderson while getting a pilot's license to fly gliders. She had three sons, Tommy, Hunter, and Jim. They married and quickly their 6 children all bonded into one happy family. He and Sandy later moved to Florida. They volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Jacksonville for 25 years. He was on the RMH Board of Directors for 12 years. In 2010, they moved to Cypress Village in Jacksonville, FL. In 2016, after 37 years of marriage, Sandra passed on.
They had 6 children, 13 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Bob worked on many hobbies such as painting, writing short stories and poetry, and stained glass work. Despite having lost many family and friends that he dearly loved, he always felt that he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. He knows that he will be with those who are waiting for him.
