Robert Eugene Lody

Robert (Bob) Lody moved to his heavenly home on August 24, 2024. He passed away peacefully at home. He was born in Chicago on September 3, 1941, the son of Jack and Anna Lodygowski. He was raised in Chicago and moved to Aurora after graduation from the University of Illinois with a degree in Engineering in 1964. He legally shortened his name to Lody in 1965. He married Beverly Banks on September 1, 1962, and she was his "Little Angel on Earth" and his "Wife For Life" for almost 62 years. He always said the first thing he would do when he met God would be to beg God to allow him to be Beverly's guardian angel so he could fulfill his promise to care for her for her entire lifetime.
He never fully recovered from the stroke he suffered following surgery in February 2005, but he was thankful to God for the extra time God gave him after his stroke to enjoy his family and watch his grandchildren grow. He never did find the right words to thank Beverly for the tender and loving care she gave him as his private duty nurse on a 24/7 basis.
He was totally left-handed, and a "perfectionist" at everything he did. Even his perfect hair grooming became his personal trademark. Since he was about 4 years old, nobody ever saw him with a single hair out of place for over 60 years. When his stroke paralyzed his entire left side and he was unable to comb his hair, he even amazed himself at how quickly he adapted to using the extra time to enjoy the simple things like sleeping a little longer each morning and allowing the wind to blow through his hair making him feel like a kid again.
After college he worked at Henry Pratt Co. as a Sales Engineer for 3 years, then for Barber-Greene Co. in management positions in Engineering, Marketing and Accounting for over 22 years. He retired from Barber-Greene in 1989 to start a second career in real estate. During his 20-year career in real estate, he was extremely proud to have been able to assist nearly 1,000 families buy or sell homes in the Greater Aurora area. He was inducted into the Re/Max Hall of Fame in 2002, based on his outstanding career sales. Despite all the deals he negotiated, he always said the best deal he ever negotiated was when he convinced Beverly to marry him. He also believed his 3 children were his greatest achievements in life, and the most important unfinished project he would leave behind would be the supervision of the development of his grandchildren.
He was a man whose love and devotion to his family was always marked by gentle strength and guidance, and he will be remembered by those who knew him for his love of life, his sense of direction, his kindness to others, his service to others, his leadership qualities, and his down-to-earth-wisdom.
He was known by most people as "Mr. President", because he was always volunteering to serve others and usually elected President of any group he joined. It started in high school when he was elected President of the Lane Tech student council, continued at the Univ. of Illinois where he was President of the Engineering student council, and then in his adult life when he was Chairman of Cub Pack 351 at McCleery School, President of the Kensington Lakes Homeowners Association for 7 years and 2002 President of the Aurora Tri-County Association of Realtors. He also served as Vice-president of the Orchard Valley Homeowner's Association for several years.
He was a graduate of the Real Estate Institute and the Aurora Chamber of Commerce Leadership School, and a member of the Illinois Society of Engineers, the National Association of Accountants and the National Association of Realtors. He also served on the Barber-Greene Company Management Advisory Board, the Parent's Advisory Council to the District 129 School Board and the Advisory Panel to the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission.
Bob loved sports. He loved to watch them all, but he truly loved the competition, both on an individual basis and as a member of a team. He was on numerous championship teams in bowling, volleyball, baseball and basketball. He also loved tennis, shooting pool, throwing darts and Jarts, and playing chess and cards, especially poker and blackjack. He always played to win, and he always expected to win, but he would be the first to shake your hand if you beat him. He had a trophy collection of over 140 trophies, and when he finally realized how much time Beverly wasted dusting all those trophies over the years, he donated the entire collection to the Children's Special Olympics.
His favorite sport was bowling, and after he got Beverly to start bowling it became one of their special bonds that they shared and enjoyed for over 30 years. They were teammates on many mixed league championship teams. Bob lived one of his lifetime dreams in 2002 when he bowled his perfect game of 300. Although it was his only perfect game, he always kept a running total of his "nearly perfect" games (games in which he got 11 strikes out of a possible 12). He said he had 128 such games with scores between 279 and 299. He never achieved his other lifetime dream of an 800 series, although he scored over 700 at least 100 times with a high series of 788. He averaged over 200 for the last 30 leagues in which he competed before his stroke forced his retirement from the game. His highest average was 212 which he had his last 5 seasons. He served as President of 62 different bowling leagues, including 42 consecutive years as League President of his Friday night leagues. He believed serving 62 times as League President may have been a record for the Aurora Association, and possibly one that may never be broken. He lived another of his longtime dreams when he was inducted into the Greater Aurora USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2008, based on his bowling accomplishments and his service to the game.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Anna Lodygowski, his brothers Eugene Lodygowski (in infancy,) Leonard Haskell, and Edwin Lodygowski, his sisters Dorothy Leonard and Barbara Zielinski, and a grandson (Tyson Lody-Niles (in infancy,) many aunts, uncles, cousins, and many special friends.
He is survived by his loving wife of almost 62 years, Beverly Lody, his son Gene (Kari) Lody of Aurora, his two daughters Krista (Brian) Mason of Incline Village NV and Cheryl (Tom) Wiencek of Aurora, four grandchildren Mitchell Lody, Cory (Leah) Lody, Brailyn (Andrew Miles) Rhodes and Rylan Lody-Niles, several aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces and many special friends.
Visitation will be at The Healy Chapel, 332 W. Downer Place, Aurora, IL on Thursday, August 29th, from 4-8 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, August 30th at The Healy Chapel followed by a procession to St. Rita of Cascia Church, 750 W Old Indian Trail in Aurora for Mass at 10 a.m..