Obituary of Robert G. Cuff

Robert “Bob” G. Cuff, age 93, of Wisconsin Rapids, passed away on Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at Edenbrook of Wisconsin Rapids.

A memorial service will take place at 12:00 P.M. on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at the First Congregational Church UCC in Wisconsin Rapids. Pastor Missy Miller will officiate. Visitation will be from 11:00 A.M. until the time of the service on Saturday at the church. Herman-Taylor Funeral Home and Cremation Center in honored to be serving the family. Online condolences may be expressed at www.taylorfuneralhome.net.

My father, Bob, is the only person I know who literally went to Timbuktu. Where else do you go after visiting Antarctica, traveling on the Orient Express, and sailing on the Queen Elizabeth II?  At the age of 70, he climbed the Great Wall of China, and then scaled the Pyramids in Egypt at the age of 76. Bob was a loving father, husband, brother, entrepreneur, world traveler, veteran, and teacher.

Bob relished the successes of others and generously gave opportunities to those willing to learn. He put his heart into every endeavor from building companies (Technitron and ENTRON Controls both in Carol Stream, IL) from the basement up, to traveling the world. Bob learned as much as he taught, seldom asking for anything in return. He was always grateful to his employees, believing his success was a direct result of his employees efforts and contributions.  Bob was a true entrepreneur accepting risk and having everything his way (or almost always his way) as part of a daily routine. Bob was a teacher and mentor to the Resistance Welding industry, teaching the controls portion of the Resistance Welding Manufacture’s Association school for many years.

Growing up in Hinsdale, IL, Bob and his brother Kermit developed a lifetime passion of trains from their father, an executive at American Flyer Trains in Chicago. Bob joined the Navy, served in the Pacific during WWII, and graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He married his first wife, Marian Hicken, in 1950 and lived most of his life in Glen Ellyn, IL. Bob married Shirley Schmid in 1994 moving to Wisconsin Rapids, WI in 2005.

Bob is survived by his daughter, Judy Cuff; wife, Shirley Cuff; stepchildren: Linda (Al) Tetzloff, Barbara (Tom) Schmelzle, and Bill (Cathy) Schmid; 6 step-grandchildren; sister, Barbara Cuff; many nieces and nephews; and a large loving extended family and friends. Bob is preceded in death by his wife, Marian Hicken Cuff; his brother, Kermit; and his sister, Laurel.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the family to be put toward scholarships established in the names of Robert G. Cuff at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL and Marian Hicken Cuff at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.