Robert David "Bob" Baum

BOONVILLE - Mr. Robert David "Bob" Baum, 52, formerly of Ripley and Findley Lake, N.Y., died Wednesday, July 6, 2005, at Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital in Elkin. He was born in Westfield on April 3, 1953, a son of the late Charles and Wilda (McIntyre) Baum. He had been a resident of North Carolina for the past 21 years. He was a graduate of Ripley Central School, Class of 1972 and attended Surry Community College. He had been employed by Iron Workers Local 348 of Erie, Pa., from 1974 to 1984. He then was employed as a computer programmer for the First Union Bank in Charlotte and most recently as a truck driver for Keen Transportation in Carlisle, Pa. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish and garden. He was a member of the NRA. However, his main passion was his family, wife, children, grandchildren and siblings. They knew him as a very giving man. Surviving are his wife of 30 years, Debora (Stebbins) Baum, whom he married Oct. 26, 1974, in Ripley, N.Y.; his two sons, Robert D. and Benjamin A. Baum, both of Boonville; and his two grandchildren, Emily Sarah and Abigail Corrine Baum, both of Boonville. He is also survived by his two sisters, Susan Riedesel of Westfield, N.Y., and Winnie Cockerham of Jonesville; and his four brothers, Charles "Chuck" Baum of Ripley, James "Jim" Baum of Westfield, N.Y., William "Bill" Baum of Scottsdale, Ky., and Donald "Don" Baum of Ripley. Friends may call at the Mathews Funeral Home Inc. in Ripley, N.Y., from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today, July 11, and are invited to attend the funeral service at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 12, at the First Baptist Church in Ripley. The Rev. Donald Eggleston will officiate. Private burial will be in East Ripley Cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.