Robert "Bob" Rossario Rinaldi

And so it began, Robert Rossario Rinaldi (Bob) was born on August 15, 1936 in Brooklyn N.Y. to Nunzia Pecoraino Rinaldi and James Vincenzo Rinaldi. Bob’s parents James Rinaldi and Nunzia Rinaldi were Italian immigrants that were proud to have come to the United States through Ellis Island in the early 1920’s, they settled in the Brooklyn N.Y. area. Bob was the oldest of three siblings, along with sisters Joan LaSalvia (Tony) and Michelle Conti (Bart). In 1941, the Rinaldi family moved From Brooklyn N.Y. to Fayetteville N.C. to open The Brooklyn Spaghetti House, an Italian Restaurant situated in downtown Fayetteville on Hay Street. Soon thereafter, the family opened an additional eatery known as the Pizza King in the same downtown area as the Brooklyn Spaghetti House. Both establishments were very successful early on when downtown Fayetteville was a respectable thriving area with family businesses and was also very popular with the soldiers of nearby military installations. Bob grew up in a very close, loving, loud, happy family. He was always surrounded by relatives, laughter, delicious food and family gatherings. Family togetherness and taking care of each other was instilled in Bob as a young child. Bob was the only boy and was surrounded by mostly women (sisters, Aunts and cousins). His sister Joan recently said that he was spoiled as a child and could get away with most anything, even when he cut off all her hair. It was on one Easter morning that the actions of Bob as a young teen would set his life on a path to encounter the love of his life. It is said that on this fateful day, Bob, his Uncle Joseph (who was just a couple of years older) and some local boys set out for a morning of mischievousness. One of the youngsters thought it would be fun to let the air out of the tires of some unsuspecting parishioners who were enjoying their Easter morning services at a local Church. The youngsters were clever and thorough in that they were able to hit most of the cars in the parking lot and sneak away unsuspected, so they thought. Soon thereafter, a commotion of great proportions erupted in the Church parking lot as angry church goers were discovering the demise of their tires and realizing they wouldn’t be home to their Easter hams anytime soon. Being a small community at the time, it didn’t take long to figure out that a local bunch of young boys might be to blame. Much to Bob’s surprise, someone in the gang squealed on the bunch and Bob’s days of getting away with most anything were over. He and his Uncle Joseph were quickly enrolled at St Francis High School, a private Catholic boarding school in Asheville N.C. where they would be closely supervised and unable to commit such atrocities. It is there where by chance Bob would meet the love of his life Rose Marie Dunn (Rosie) at a high school dance. Organized dances were one of the only ways young people socialized back then and the good Catholic boys were encouraged to meet good Catholic girls. Bob and Rosie became sweethearts throughout their high school years and then kept in touch as they both went off to college. Bob would attend Belmont Abbey near Charlotte N.C. and Rosie would attend Mercy Nursing School in Charlotte N.C. Each found success in their studies and although separated briefly, Bob never stopped thinking about that beautiful fiery Irish girl Rosie Dunn. He knew he wanted to marry her and back at that time, it didn’t appear that either family was very warm to the idea. Bob should have been marrying a nice Italian girl and Rosie should have been marrying a nice Irish boy. Rosie completed her nursing degree and went on to work at Mercy Hospital while Bob continued to attend college nearby at Belmont Abbey. The love these two shared brought them together early in life as teenagers and they would continue their romance through college and finally elope on New Year’s Eve 61 years ago in Dillon S.C. Bob then went on to North Carolina State University to complete a Baccalaureate degree in Mechanical Engineering. Soon after graduating from N.C. State, Bob was hired on at an engineering firm in Manhattan N.Y. and moved to Fairfield N.J. to start his happily ever after family life. Along the way, Bob and Rosie had three children, Nunzia Rinaldi-Bork (David), Robert (Bobby) Rinaldi Jr., and Lorinda (Lindy) Rinaldi (Leah). Young married life was full of kids who actually played outside, family cookouts and lots of home improvement projects. Repairs filled free time because there wasn’t a lot of money, there were weekend auto repairs, homemade artwork was accomplished by randomly flinging paint on a canvas and framing it, go carts were made from discarded lawn mower engines, Friday family nights were spent singing into a microphone hooked up to the stereo and dancing along with the music (the original karaoke), teaching the kids to ride bikes, swim, play football, softball, having cookouts with neighbors who were actually neighborly and most important of all, vacations were spent with family, especially with grandparents and cousins. While in New Jersey, Bob started dabbling into making his own pizzas on weekends and soon the entire neighborhood was salivating while waiting on his next pizza creation. This success and attention contributed to his desire to later start up his own restaurant. It is hard to imagine when Bob had the time for pizza making since he was always tinkering with something on the weekends that needed either fixing or inventing. Bob was the envy of the neighborhood when he took an old washing machine motor and turned it into a television antennae turner. He had a small box next to his living room chair with a directional control knob and a wire running out the window up to the roof to the motor which attached to the antennae. Simply turn the knob and magically the antennae would turn to either left or right until the TV picture was clear. The remainder of the discarded washer and dryer were turned into an outdoor grill and storage cabinet. Bob was always a quick thinker and problem solver no matter the situation. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t try to fix if he could get his hands on it. On one occasion, he attempted to help out his loving wife Rosie when in the middle of the night, she slipped on a comforter and fell knocking loose her two front teeth. Bob quickly responded with his handy dandy tube of epoxy glue and made a tiny support brace to glue and hold her teeth together and secure them back in her mouth. Rosie’s teeth survived and even the Dentist was impressed by Bob’s practical solution. Bob’s inventions and repairs weren’t necessarily esthetically pretty, but they were always, always practical and functional. In 1969, the Brooklyn Spaghetti House was struck by lightning and closed. Bob then moved his family from New Jersey back to Fayetteville N.C. to help his parents recover from the loss of the Brooklyn Spaghetti House and to open his own restaurant on Ramsey Street which was called Rinaldi’s. Everyday life for Bob and Rosie was often times fast paced and chaotic. A typical day included managing a restaurant, raising a family, watching over his parents, maintaining a household, keeping vehicles functioning. There was shopping, cooking, cleaning, and ensuring the kids were engaged in school and extracurricular activities. And then came Sunday, Sunday was the only day Rinaldi’s restaurant was closed and it was the only day of the week the Rinaldi family could get together for a meal as a family. Most often the family meal was at Grandma Rinaldi’s house along with visiting cousins, aunts and uncles. Bob enjoyed owning and operating Rinaldi’s for about 15 years and then he returned his career focus back to mechanical engineering. While Rosie worked as a nurse in a local hospital, Bob began working in waste water management in Fayetteville N.C. and after several years, took a job with Simplex Grinnell to design sprinkler systems for fire protection. It is along this time that one of the happiest moments in Bob’s life occurred, he welcomed his first and only grandchild Chelsi Dawn Genter (Nunzia’s daughter). While at Cape Fear Valley Hospital waiting on Chelsi to enter the world, Bob was also able to point out the newly installed fire protection sprinkler system he designed. Chelsi was the reason Bob and Rosie relocated to Charleston in 1989. Where Bob continued his work designing fire protection systems with a local Simplex Grinnell office. He was instrumental in the design of sprinkler systems that would be installed in many of the old historic buildings in downtown Charleston. Bob would eventually retire in 2010 at the age of 74. He loved working at Simplex Grinnell, and would have continued working longer but felt he was starting to decline and did not want to risk making any mistakes in such a critical job. One of the endearing qualities Bob had prided himself with throughout his life was that he was always right and if there were ever any doubt, all one had to do was just ask him. After retiring, Bob finally had the time to tinker until his heart’s content and spend more time with his family. He had the time to grow a garden, he began to bicycle and would often ride 20 to 30 miles a day. He loved to play tennis and especially loved to win. He could lose gracefully, but winning was preferred. It was hard for Bob to slow down until there was a real definable sign that it was necessary. For example, Bob had a very steep roof, but that did not deter him from climbing up on it and inspecting the shingles and making repairs as needed. It wasn’t until he lost his grip and slid on his hands and knees down the roof to make a sudden stop before he would have plunged into the backyard that Bob decided it was finally time to get a new roof installed by professionals. Falling off his bike and breaking his collar bone did not deter him from bicycling, but he was more careful from that day forward on how to negotiate curbs at school bus stops when kids and buses were present. There was no need for medical help since he was the guy who epoxied his wife’s teeth back in her head. He hopped back on his bike and rode home to quietly devise a home remedy that would not be obvious to Rosie or she would worry about him and not want him to ride anymore. This bike fall inspired Bob to develop what he called “the roll”. “The roll” was simply a forward bodily motion applied to situations in which he found himself falling in the face plant direction. Most often “the roll” was used after the occasional rush to the net for a drop shot in either tennis or pickle ball, because remember, winning was preferred. About 7 years ago, Bob would learn that he had advanced prostate cancer. He attacked this disease with all his might with help from the Charleston Cancer Center. He underwent all the available treatments and took medications without complaining. There was one thing Bob wanted more than anything else, and that was to live so he could spend more time with his precious Rosie, his kids, grandchild and the rest of his family. If you asked him what his greatest accomplishment was, he would tell you it was his children. He wasn’t normally a guy who was very expressly emotional but his love for his family was deep and understood by all. One of the last things he said was that he was the luckiest guy in the world because he had a loving wife and three beautiful children. He was a happy, thoughtful, fun, loving and simple guy. His wife Rosie, when asked recently what she liked most about her husband, replied “he was not a complicated man”. Robert Rossario Rinaldi entered eternal rest on October 31, 2019 at the age of 83. He was where he wanted to be at his home with his family. Robert is survived by his loving wife Rosie, his daughter Nunzia Bork, his son Bobby, his daughter Lindy and his granddaughter Chelsi Genter. He is also survived by his son in law David Bork and daughter in law Leah Crout whom he loved as much as his own. He was predeceased by his beautiful baby sister Michelle Conti. The family appreciates all the prayers and well wishes of friends and family who knew and loved Bob. The family will have a private service. Flowers are gratefully declined. Donations can be made to: Prostate Cancer Foundation.