Robert "Bob" Regis

January 22, 1924 - December 18, 2014 Engineer, woodworker, photographer and musician, Robert Regis, or "Bob" as he was known to friends and family, was born in Chisholm, Minnesota, the third of three children of Daisy and Louis S. Regis. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and met his future wife, Jeanne, there. The two were married in 1947 and started their life together in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Bob worked as an engineer for Collins Radio, designing ground- to-air radio communication equipment. By 1952, when they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they had two sons, Jim and Dan. The next three decades were devoted to family as three more children-Barbara, Peggy and Tony-were born. In Milwaukee, Bob's job with the AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors included work on the guidance system for the Apollo space program. He was proud of his contribution to landing men on the moon, and celebrated each rocket launch with early-morning television countdowns with his kids. In the early 1970s, he moved his family to Goleta, where he continued work for GM at Delco Electronics. He retired in 1984, moved to Carpinteria, and pursued a variety of interests, including travel, photography, music, woodworking and volunteering. One of his most memorable experiences was an 8-week Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) trip in 1987, his wife included, to London, Florence and Paris to study art history and English literature. In addition, he tutored math at SBCC for 18 years and gave his time at Catholic Charities and at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore in Carpinteria, where he enjoyed the company of friends. His life was marked by an interest in music. The son of two generations of music directors, he studied the cello and the trombone, and grew up on classical and swing. He played in his high school band and orchestra, and later for 22 years with the Goleta Valley Community Orchestra and for 10 years with the Santa Barbara City College Symphony Orchestra. He was an ingenious woodworker and always had a project going. From an early age, he helped his father build several trailers and a houseboat, and during the 1930s explored the western states with his parents and sisters, traveling on old logging roads with their home-built campers. Later, he built the interiors of two campers of his own. He lived for his trips "out west" each year, exploring the Rocky Mountains and the national parks with his family. During these travels, he always kept his camera close at hand. He loved to photograph the mountains and captured thousands of slides of his family and the places he visited. He learned photography as a child and his experience spanned from the time of glass negatives to modern digital photos. In recent years, he enjoyed hand-coloring early black-and-white photographs taken during his adventures. Bob was active up until the last day of his life. He died on December 18, 2014 at the age of 90. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years. He is survived by his five children, four grandchildren and a great grandchild. Services will be held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Friday January 9, 2015 at 10 am, followed by burial services at Carpinteria Cemetery. Visitation is on January 8, 2015 from 5 to 8 pm, with Rosary at 7 pm at Welch-Ryce-Haider (15 E. Sola). Donations can be made in his name to Catholic Charities at 609 E. Haley.