Robert Charles Perpall

Bob Perpall, a native of Los Angeles, passed away on December 6, 2010 while recovering from abdominal surgery. Born on November 7, 1930, he was 80 years old when he died. A memorial Mass was held at St. John Fisher Church in Palos Verdes on December 14 and he was interred the same day at Green Hills Mortuary in San Pedro with his wife, Doris, who preceded him in death by 17 years. After graduating from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena where he received his BS degree in mechanical engineering in 1952, Bob worked for The Garrett Corporation AiResearch Division. In 1953, he married Doris Helen Shulties and they would be together for more than forty years. In 1955, he returned to Caltech and received his Master of Science degree in 1956. In the early '70s, Bob transferred to the AiResearch Industrial Division where he was responsible for developing and managing a new product line of air coolers (heat exchangers) used on large diesel trucks. With this success, he was promoted to VP and general manager of the Garrett AiResearch Industrial Division in 1981. Responsibilities included overseeing the production of turbochargers for engines as well as his air coolers. He retired in 1988. After the passing of Doris in 1993, Bob was remarried in 1995 to Antoinette Fowler, also a native of Los Angeles. Together for the past 15 years they were active volunteers and philanthropists engaged in a wide variety of endeavors. Bob was a great friend; a great man with a great many friends of whom he cared about immensely. Surviving Bob are his wife, Toni Perpall; his son, Bob Jr.; his brother, Russ Perpall; his nieces, Laura Jester, Sue Perpall Bowman; his nephew, Les Perpall; his sister-in-law, Michelle Hebdon; and his niece, Veronica Hallauer. Donations in memory of Bob may be made to: The Caltech Y Endowment Fund c/o California Institute of Technology MC 5-62, Pasadena, CA 91125 or the King Harbor Youth Foundation c/o King Harbor Yacht Club, 280 Yacht Club Way Redondo Beach, CA 90277. Alternatively, gifts may be made to the MPD Foundation for research into myeloproliferative disorders: http://mpdfoundation.org/about_found.asp. Please sign the guestbook at www.dailybreeze.com/obits.