Robert Gulardo

Funeral services for Robert Gulardo, 90, of Jefferson, took place July 14 at the Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home in Jefferson.

Burial will be at 2 p.m. July 15 at Union Cemetery, St. Charles, Ill.

Memorials are suggested to the First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson or the Floyd Brown American Legion Post 11 in Jefferson.

Pueblo, Colo., was the birthplace of Bob Gulardo on Aug. 8, 1930. He moved to Los Angeles in 1937 and resided in California until 1962. He attended California public schools, including Susan Miller Dorsey High School (academic major, 1948), Los Angeles City College (AA in business administration, 1950) and California State University at Los Angeles (BS in industrial management/industrial engineering and graduate courses toward an MBA, 1958).

Bob was a member of the United States Army in 1950-51, attending basic training and leadership school at Fort Ord, Calif., and Officer Candidate School at Fort Riley, Kan.

In May 1952, Bob married Beverly Schoellerman, a high school sweetheart. Son Steven was born in 1954.

Over the next 50 years, in addition to initially living in California, Bob and Beverly resided in Illinois (20 years), Texas (two years), Ohio (two years) and Missouri (18 years). 

After Beverly’s death in 2002, Bob married Marian Gibson, who, with her late husband Ted, were 50-year friends of Bob and Beverly. Bob and Marian resided in Iowa.

In September 1951, after discharge from the Army, Bob joined Northrop Aircraft and started what became a 50-year career in all aspects of facilities planning, design and construction. As a senior facilities engineer with Northrop, Bob was concerned with design, manufacturing and testing military aircraft.

In February 1960, Bob became a member of the FMC Corporation’s Central Engineering Laboratories/Engineered Systems Division. As a senior systems engineer and operations manager, Bob spent the next two decades responsible for commercial facilities, systems and equipment, primarily for food processing.

Bob joined Sverdrup Corporation, a major A/E/C firm, in 1982. As vice president and deputy corporate principal, he was responsible for planning, design and construction of facilities for the manufacturing and process industries. From 1990 until his retirement in 2001, Bob served as a consultant and senior staff member for several major engineering and construction firms, including Davy McKee, Fru-Con and SSOE. During his 50 years of engineering service, Bob was responsible for facilities valued at more than $2 billion.

Bob was a member of the Presbyterian Church USA for more than 60 years and served as both deacon and elder. He was also a multiyear member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), American Management Associations (AMA), and Institute of Food Technologies (IFT).

Bob and Marian enjoyed wintering in Arizona from 2004 to 2018. Marian died in May of 2018, and Bob continued wintering in Arizona for two more years. Bob resided in Jefferson until his death.

Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Beverly; his wife, Marian; his father, Emil; and his mother, Mabel.

He is survived by his son, Steve (Gay) Gulardo, of St. Peters, Mo.; stepdaughter Diane Gibson, of Jefferson; stepson Bruce Gibson, of Mesa, Ariz.; grandchildren: Kendra (Ryan) Culleton, of St. Peters, Mo., and Wendy (Graham Smith) Lukefaahr, of St. Peters; great-grandchildren: Olivia Culleton, Sophie Culleton, Thomas Culleton, Sawyer Smith and Arya Smith; other relatives; and friends.

Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home, Jefferson, is assisting the family.