Bronxites are mourning the death of Bronx community leader, Bob Nolan, who died Friday, Dec. 15, in The Bronx at the age of 75.

 

According to details posted to Schuylerhill Funeral Home, a beloved son of The Bronx, Robert Francis Nolan passed away painlessly on the evening of Friday, Dec. 15, after being diagnosed with aggressive forms of adenocarcinoma in the abdomen organs on Nov. 24, and entered home hospice with Calvary Hospital soon thereafter. At the time of his passing, according to his obituary, he was surrounded by his beloved family at his bedside. His obituary continues as follows:

 

“Born in the Bronx on Nov. 16, 1948, Bob was raised on Amethyst Street by his parents Benjamin and Agnes Nolan, with his older sister Carol and younger brother James. In August 1974, Bob met Susan Gannascoli of Graves End, Brooklyn, after Bob befriended Susan’s brother, Rudy, at a New York State Young Democrats Convention. On August 2, 1975, Bob and Susan were married in Brooklyn on a day that was said to be a 99-degree scorcher.

 

Thirteen months later, they welcomed their first child, Christopher Rocco, into the world at Victory Memorial in Brooklyn. Two-and-a-half years later, they welcomed their second child, Vivian Kathryn, at Einstein Hospital in The Bronx. In 1981, they settled into their ‘starter home’ in The Bronx neighborhood of Indian Village, finding a lovely, semi-attached, Tudor house on Narragansett Avenue, where they would raise their family and build their life of public service.

Bob’s life of public service is beautifully detailed in the Congressional Record dated December 9, 2008, in a tribute entered by the Hon. José E. Serrano, following his retirement from the Bronx Borough President’s office, which spanned over four decades of service under Borough Presidents Stanley Simon, Fernando Ferrer, and Adolfo Carrión. Bob was proudly known as one of “Freddy’s Guys” at his retirement, forever loyal to Freddy Ferrer.

 

Following his retirement, he was appointed by [New York City] Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the NYC Council in June 2011, as a Member of the Board of Directors for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation as the City Council Designee for the Borough of the Bronx. Both the Congressional Record and his HHC bios detailing his service can be found [here and here].

 

In his family life, Bob and Susan enjoyed traveling the world together on over 45 cruises. On the home front, they traveled from Little League games to community and law firm softball games alike. Bob was even known to toe the rubber for Fernando’s Commandos on the Borough President’s softball team. They also enjoyed a passion for watching movies together, with Bob’s legendary love for countless watchings of The Godfather Parts I and II.

 

Bob is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Susan; his son, Chris (Trisha Rich), his daughter, Vivian (Dr. Sonia Patel, engaged Dec. 8), his brother, James, family matriarch aunt, Ann Affriol, and countless treasured cousins and other family members. He is predeceased by his parents, Benjamin and Agnes, and his sister, Carol.”

 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in his memory, please visit Heartfelt Sympathies Store.

According to details posted on Schuylerhill Funeral Home’s website, a first visitation was held on Monday, Dec. 18, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Schuyler Hill Funeral Home, 3535 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10465. A funeral service was held on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Solice, 731 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10462. Interment took place at St. Johns Cemetery, 80-01 Metropolitan Avenue, New York, New York 11379.

 

A further extract on the funeral home website reads as follows: “Visitors to the wake and funeral are encouraged to share in Bob’s lifelong passion for baseball by wearing baseball gear from your favorite Major League Baseball team or local Bronx Little League team. From the co-founding by his father, Ben Nolan, of Van Nest Little League, est. 1956, to playing baseball in Little League at Salesian High School and at Fordham University, to supporting the New York turned San Francisco Giants, his summer days and nights were filled with baseball memories shared with his wife and children.

 

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Van Nest Little League in the Bronx (Venmo to @vannestlittleleague).”

 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Robert F. Nolan died at the age of 75, not 70. We apologize for this error.