Robert Earle McCall of Cutchogue, 83, a genuinely good guy and cherished husband of Cheryl McCall, passed away on Nov. 14, 2024, with the Peconic Bay in clear view, as was true on most days.
In his youth, Bob was a party boy, much to his parents’ chagrin, and his friends’ delight. He loved fast cars and fast boats and drove them as fast as he could. While others might be out sailing on the bay, Bob preferred the speed of a motorboat and owned several with his brother, Russ. His mother said that as a child, Bob was always in motion, which pretty much summed him up for most of his life. He could be impatient, but that was only because he knew fun was waiting around the corner.
Bob’s good looks made him a favorite among the girls. In fact, as a baby in Brooklyn, his features were so fine that when his mother strolled him around Park Slope, people would stop and comment on what a pretty baby girl he was. He kept his fine features throughout his life, and was even voted prom king in high school.
Brooklyn and later Syosset were his childhood homes, with summers on Peconic Bay, where Bob excelled at fishing, clamming and crabbing. (He always knew the best spots.) Waiting tables at The Old Mill and Galley-Ho earned him pocket money — ostensibly to help with odds and ends but more likely used as beer money. Evenings might find him at the old Apple Tree, where he was the last to leave on a few occasions.
Bob was smart as a whip, but kept the party going in college. It was his good fortune to slow down long enough to notice Chickie Leppert. They have been together ever since — 58 years of happy marriage. Bob went on to have a long and successful career in banking, and he and Chickie raised their two children, Kristin and Rob, in Darien, Conn.
The next phase of their lives took them full-time to Cutchogue, when in 1995 they bought a Servpro franchise, which grew substantially under their management. Bob and Chickie made a good team, in business and in life.
They retired in 2008, and Bob enjoyed his Tuesday afternoon golf games at North Fork Country Club and mixing it up with his pals in the Lions Club. He also continued to follow the stock market like an eagle, which he learned from his mother, Marjorie McCall, and kept a keen eye on what was happening in the financial world up until the very end. His stockbroker was a busy person.
Above all, he and Chickie had a fun-filled, loving life together — a life made even richer by many dear, lifelong friends they met along the way.
Bob leaves behind a family who loved him deeply: his wife, Chickie; their daughter, Kristin, her husband, Paul Johnson, and their children Amanda and Matthew; son Rob and his wife, Suzie, and their sons Mac, Emmett and Finn; brother, Russell McCall (Nicola Plimpton); and sister, Carolyn McCall (David Renner). Legions of friends and family also survive him.
Bob was a force, and his humor and positive outlook were hallmarks until the end. We’ll miss you, Bob. Life sped by way too fast.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the Presbyterian Church, Southold.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Bob’s name to the charity of your choice.
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