Robert Leonard Boyle Sr. passed peacefully Aug. 12, 2022, amid the prayers of many.
Bob was born Sept. 22, 1935, to John and Katherine Boyle of Jersey City and Allenhurst. After attending The Peddie School and Seton Hall University, Bob took on leadership positions in The Hudson Dispatch Newspaper Corporation, Union City and the John F. Boyle Box Company, Jersey City, and was a member of the board of directors of the Commercial Trust Company, UJB Financial and Summit Bancorp for over 20 years.
Always civic and community minded, he served on many boards as a trustee and officer, including Monmouth Medical Center Foundation, St. Peter’s University, Visiting Nurses Association Health Group, The Catholic Advocate, Rumson Country Day School, New Jersey Press Association, Supreme Court of New Jersey Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct, Oceanic Free Library, Parents Support Group of New Jersey, among others.
Bob married Rita Morgan at her parents’ home in Allenhurst in 1957 and they embarked on the adventure of raising seven children in Rumson. Together, their curiosity led them to a lifelong passion for travel and taking up new activities, like skiing in Lake Placid and around the world, often with their children in tow and, in later years, with the “Rusty Edges.”
Bob lived by the credo “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Luke 6:31)” He was a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather, a good friend, a gentle spirit. He was strong in his faith and served as a Eucharistic Minister for many years at his parish Church of the Nativity. He loved travel, swimming, newspapers, the beach, spy novels and all his friends, especially the Fatmens Club and the Monmouth Beach lunch crowd.
His wife Rita predeceased him in 2010. He leaves behind seven children: Kathy Stewart (Malcolm), Bobby Boyle (Tracy), Peter Boyle (Laurie), Rita Boyle, Sharon Warren (Joe), Jim Boyle (Sasha) and John Boyle (Gretchen); and 16 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren who will carry on his legacy of kindness and generosity of spirit.
There will be no visitation. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30 at the Church of the Nativity, 180 Ridge Road, Fair Haven. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Middletown, and thereafter by a celebration of life at the Rumson Country Club.
Thompson Memorial Home, Red Bank, has been entrusted with the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Oceanic Free Library, 109 Avenue of Two Rivers, Rumson, NJ 07760 or oceaniclib.org, are welcome.
The article originally appeared in the August 25 – 31, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
