Robert J. Vieceli Obituary
Geisen-Pruzin Funeral & Cremation Services 6360 Broadway Ave. Merrillville, IN 46410 219-980-9070 | Tuesday 3/15, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Cemetery Calumet Park Cemetery 2305 West 73rd Avenue Merrillville, IN 46410 Mass St. Bridget Catholic Church 107 Main Street Hobart, IN 46342 Wednesday 3/16, 10:00 am.
Robert "Bob" John Vieceli passed away peacefully in the presence of family on March 11, 2022.
He was born on September 4th, 1936 in Gary, Indiana to Secondo and Jennie (Degard) Vieceli. He grew up in Gary's Tolleston neighborhood and graduated from the neighborhood high school in 1954. Around this time, he asked his friend Tom Pry to introduce him to his sister Elizabeth. Soon they fell in love and were married on June 6th, 1959. Almost simultaneously, he was drafted into the army, and shortly after their honeymoon, he had to leave for basic training and then for Korea.
After his tour was over, his new bride joined him for the remainder of his service in Colorado Springs, a time they remembered fondly and from which they made some life-long friendships. They returned to Gary, and eventually settled in the Junedale area of Glen Park. In the fall of 1965, they welcomed their firstborn son, Robert George. Bob had become 'Dad'. Having had trouble conceiving but wanting to share their love with a bigger family, they immediately applied to adopt. In the summer of 1970, they received the call that they were waiting for and welcomed another son, James Thomas.
In 1978, they moved the family to Lakes of the Four Seasons where Bob coached winning little league teams while young Bob played baseball. Bob worked for U.S. Steel his entire career. He started as an electrical apprentice out of high school. After the Army, he worked his way up into management. In the early 70's he began going to night school at Purdue Calumet and in 1976 graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He was a supervisor in the Maintenance Development division. Toward the end of his career, he had become a plant expert in using the then new technology of thermography to diagnose issues and traveled to Mexico and Spain to demonstrate what they had achieved at Gary Works. He retired with over 40 years of service.
Almost at the same time, 'Dad' became 'Papa' as his first grandson Bobby was born. He would be blessed with two more, Michael and Ryan. Bob was a longtime member of St. Bridget's Catholic Church where he served as a Eucharistic minister. He and Liz loved to serve at the local Senior Center. Bob was a big sports fan. He supported all the Chicago teams and he especially loved Notre Dame. He was a good neighbor, a good friend, and he loved his family well. Papa loved to tell stories. In later years, as they came to be repeated more and more, he never lost the joy of telling them as if we were hearing them for the first time. Many stories were of his childhood, his time in the service, and working at the steel mill. Some of our favorites, were Liz and his travel adventures including one when they decided to travel to South Dakota's Black Hills not knowing they were going to end up in a futile search for lodgings in the middle of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
In their last years together, as it became clear that Liz was suffering with Alzheimer's, Bob, Dad, Papa became our hero as he served as her 24-7/365 caretaker. Even as he was receiving his diagnosis and looking down the barrel of the death sentence that is pancreatic cancer, he was taking the steps to ensure she would be taken care of after he was no longer able.
Bob is survived by: his wife of 62 years, Elizabeth (nee Pry); two sons – Robert G. (Catherine) Vieceli, and James T. (Cathleen) Vieceli; three grandsons, Robert J. Vieceli, Michael A. Vieceli, Ryan (Jordan) Horn; brother and sister-in-law Gene and MaryAnn Marker; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by: his parents; and his sister Janice (Al) Welch; and brother-in-law, Tom Pry.
Visitation will be Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at Geisen-Pruzin Funeral & Cremation Services, 6360 Broadway Ave., Merrillville, IN 46410.
A Mass of Christian burial will take place at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at St. Bridget Catholic Church, 107 Main St., Hobart, IN 46342.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Bob's honor to support the fight against Alzheimer's at: https://alz.org.
Robert "Bob" John Vieceli passed away peacefully in the presence of family on March 11, 2022. He was born on September 4th, 1936 in Gary, Indiana to Secondo and Jennie (Degard) Vieceli. He grew up in Gary's Tolleston neighborhood and graduated from the neighborhood high school in 1954. Around this time, he asked his….
