Bob was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana where his sister and brother still reside. He was involved in grade and high school football, basketball, and track. Although he has good memories of each sport his favorite athletic memories were playing unorganized hockey on the river or a frozen area provided by the local volunteer fire department. Bob and his friends played hockey every day after school sometimes playing after sundown using the light of the warming fire. That experience set the hook. When his two sons started playing organized hockey it wasn't long until Bob was coaching. He continued to enjoy coaching until his job took him out of town up to 46 weeks a year. Wanting to stay involved with amateur hockey he started officiating.

Shortly after that, in the spring of 1984, Bob moved to the St. Louis area and his hockey horizons expanded greatly. Once settled in he began officiating again and became active in the administration of the Missouri Ice Hockey Officials Association (MIHOA). He served MIHOA in many positions including a number of terms as President. Within three years of Bob's arrival in St. Louis, Mike Spathelf resigned as local supervisor and Bob assumed his duties. That led to seat on the Board of Directors of Missouri Hockey. Bob's long tenure on the Missouri Hockey Board of Directors saw him serving in every officer position including two terms as President. He continued to serve as a director until his appointment as Central District Referee-in-Chief required him to step down.

Other administrative roles saw him serving on the planning committee for the 1994 Olympic Festival and various committees for district and national tournaments. Bob also works for the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program as a supervisor and has been the referee-in-chief for a number of USA Hockey national tournaments. He has also served as an NHL off-ice official since 1992. In 1997 he won the St. Louis Blueliner's Lynn Patrick Memorial Award for outstanding service to amateur hockey. The Missouri Ice Hockey Officials Association awarded Bob their Dedication Award in 2004 for his service to ice hockey officiating.

Bob's officiating goal upon moving to St. Louis was to be a linesman in a Junior C game. This goal was achieved and surpassed. He has officiated thousands of games for MIHOA. Included in these games were four State Championship games played at the old Arena and the new Kiel Center. Since living in St. Louis Bob has worked every level of national tournaments offered by USA Hockey including last year's Pond Hockey Championships. One of the highlights of his on ice career came in 1999 when he was selected by USA Hockey to travel to Mexico City. There he worked the Mexican Junior National Championships refereeing the championship game.

He is the fifth Central District Referee-in-Chief in the history of USA Hockey and the first ever from Missouri. His efforts in developing and improving officials take place in the classroom and on the ice. He is a staff member in USA Hockey's Instructor Training programs and has instructed at both Olympic Training Centers. He has conducted officiating seminars in five states, including Alaska, and in Mexico. Three years ago he initiated the Central District Officiating Development Camp resulting in 48 male and female officials becoming better officials and people.

Bob lives in Maryville, Illinois with his wife Mary who continues to encourage him to peruse his passion for amateur hockey as she has for over 25 years.