Robert E. Sternquist

Robert Eugene Sternquist, pursuing his life-long love of racing, perished while attempting to set a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  He loved tall tales, drag racing, classic cars, all kinds of vodka, many women, and the beginning of a good project.  He sure would’ve liked to have gone out that way, and maybe that’s how he’s telling the tale to his buddies in the afterlife.  Alas, the final chapter of his life wasn’t quite so dramatic, but he was well cared for and comforted by loved ones as the final hours of his life drew to a close. Born in Glendale, California, he grew up in Shelton, Washington, and graduated from high school in Granada Hills, California.  Rob spent the next two decades in Southern California where he began his professional career as a realtor and builder, laying the foundation for a long career in commercial appraising.  He moved his family to Gig Harbor, Washington, where he spent more than twenty years before retiring to Adrian, Michigan. Rob was a proud father and is survived by his four children, a boatload of grandsons, one granddaughter, and his younger sister.  He was preceded in death by both of his parents and his older sister. There was nothing average about Rob— a man of extremes, a shrewd negotiator, and fantastic teller of tales.  Rob was always armed with an arsenal of quips and witticisms.  “Stop me if you’ve heard this one” wasn’t one of them. He was quick to remind us that “you can’t snow the snowman,” recognize that his off-color jokes were apt to go over “like a fart in a space suit,” to quote Grouco Marx: “Heres to our wives and girlfriendsmay they never meet”, and to remind us of life’s odd quirks with his story of the blue whale. “You know, the blue whale is the largest mammal on the planet,” he’d say.  Then he’d hold up his fist, “But their throats?  Smaller than my first.  You know why?”  Always a dramatic pause.  “Because that’s the way it is.” Robert Eugene Sternquist October 22, 1948 - December 4, 2020. Rest in Peace A celebration of his life will be held once it is safe to do so.