Robert M Boies

Robert M Boies, “Bobby,” “Rove”,“Bob”, “Bob B”, linguist, traveller of the world, lover of music and song, passed away on March 12, in Tucson, Arizona, after an illness. He was 71.

After graduating from The University of Arizona with a Master’s in Speech Pathology in 1987, Bobby began a career as a speech language pathologist. He worked for the Tucson Unified School District, and spent many years working abroad in Mexico, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, India, and Pakistan, as well as in Hawaii and California. He travelled throughout his life, delighting in different cultures. He retired in Tucson, where he continued to immerse himself in the bilingual multicultural community he so enjoyed. He loved the Spanish language, switched effortlessly between Spanish and English, and regularly spent time in Mexico. He was also fluent in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic, German, Portuguese, French, Italian, and picked up other languages along the way, including American Sign Language. Bobby relished the company of family and friends, enjoying a meal, telling jokes (including jokes and puns in different languages), singing songs, trading stories, reminiscing, and playing and listening to music, including the tabla. He had a strong interest in genealogy, and enjoyed sharing information about their ancestors with his family.

Robert Mehnert Boies was born in Munich, Germany, the third child of Robert Boies and Donna (Stoy) Boies. He grew up in Washington, DC, Bombay, India, Beirut, Lebanon, and Rome, Italy, where he graduated from The Overseas School of Rome. He attended The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and spent his Junior year in Benares, India, and a year in Paris, France, before beginning his graduate work in Arizona. He regularly returned to Washington, DC to visit family. Bobby is survived by his siblings David, Patti, Paul (Francesca), Leslie (Rob), Laura, his nephews Robert and Michael, his nieces Madeleine and Elena, his brother-in-law Gill, as well as his aunts and cousins, and dear friends. He is predeceased by his parents and his niece, Gina.