Robert Louis DOLEZAL

DOLEZAL, Robert Louis was born on June 17, 1935 in Wahoo, Nebraska, the only child of Claire and Louis Dolezal. He left this earth peacefully on October 25, 2017. In many ways Bob experienced the classic small town American lifestyle. He attended Wahoo High School and was always active with academics and sports. He sang in the St. Wenceslas church choir and played piano. Bob graduated Wahoo High School in 1953 and joined the army in 1954. After two years he used his G I Bill to attend the University of Nebraska to achieve a BA in Economics. He was then invited to teach and study at the University of Illinois. Where he also earned his Masters in Economics. After marrying Judith Mitchell in 1959 he embarked on a long career in public service working for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He worked for HUD in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami, Florida. It was In San Juan where Judy and Bob's son, Jerry was born. Two years later in New Haven, CT their daughter, Lisa was born. Bob's most exciting government work in Urban Renewal was in New Haven where he became Deputy Director overseeing many large development projects. He travelled to Washington DC several times to meet with the Johnson and Nixon administrations. In 1970 Bob moved his family to Tucson, AZ to pursue a law degree from the University of Arizona. After two years he decided that being a lawyer wasn't for him. In the meantime he and Judy were divorced and Bob moved to Miami to join many of his New Haven colleagues and become director of a HUD management improvement program. In 1975 Bob moved back to Tucson, where he enjoyed a life of selective retirement. Bob continued as a journalist, writing many cover stories for prominent Arizona business magazines and newspapers. Travels took Bob all over the world including many parts of Europe, Mexico, Canada, India, Nepal, Greece, Turkey, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Russia. In 1992 Bob was able to take his family on a nostalgic pilgrimage to Czechoslovakia where they found the actual house where his grandfather grew up in the tiny hamlet of Sokoli. It was after this trip that Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. But rather than feel sorry for himself, he decided to attack the very disease that would later ravage his body. He worked for the Arizona Parkinson's Disease Association for 12 years as an advocate for research funding. He was president of the APDA for three of those years and made multiple visits to Washington DC, where he was able to successfully lobby Arizona Senator John McCain to sponsor the Morris K Udall Parkinson's Disease Bill. It was said by McCain's staff that Bob's persuasive intervention was what got McCain to sponsor this important bill. Bob loved writing poetry. In 1998 he used his gift to write and then read a poem to Muhammad Ali at the opening of the Ali Parkinson's Research Center in Phoenix that is dedicated to the champ. Bob taught his children some basic but profound philosophies on how to be happy and successful in life: Respect the dignity of others, and whatever you choose to pursue, be the best that you can be in spite of any obstacles that you might face. It sure worked for him. Bob is survived by his son, Jerry and his wife, Denise and daughter Lisa, her husband, Alan and his beloved grandchildren, Sam and Sydnee.