Obituary of Robert Charles Bealer

Robert "Bob" Bealer, 88, of State College, died Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Mount Nittany Medical Center.

He was born August 29, 1930, in Bethlehem, PA. Of his large group of siblings, Bob was number 10, "the baby". Bob wanted to outdo his sister Polly, who with his death at 88, is now the last of the clan at the age of 102.

Bob received two of his three degrees – undergraduate and Masters - from Penn State. He achieved his Doctorate in Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology from Michigan State University. He then returned to Penn State as a faculty member in the College of Agriculture's Department of Rural Sociology. Bob was an all-around fulltime professor – teaching students, mentoring PhD candidates, editing his profession's peer reviewed journal, Rural Sociology, and serving as the Rural Sociological Society's president. He retired after 32 years with the university in 1990.

Bob was:

• a devoted husband of 65 years to his wife, Barbara
• a loving and supportive father to his children Anita (Michael), Andy (Wendy), Eric (Pam, both deceased 2018) and Roberta (Larry)
• an adored and cherished grandpa by his grandkids Allyson, Amanda, Aaran and Alexis
• a super fan and friend of home health care worker, Cheyeanna

Otherwise, retirement meant for Bob a life filled with reading, cooking, gardening, anything sports, especially the Pittsburgh Pirates or Penn State wrestling; keeping the bird feeders full for his feathered friends, doing puzzles either crosswords or jigsaw. And, always, family, family, family.

Help keep Bob's lifelong love of words and storytelling alive through memorial contributions in his honor to the Centre County Library, www.centrecountylibrary.org.

Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.