{"id":1674,"date":"2011-04-22T08:24:11","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T04:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blogblog\/?p=1674"},"modified":"2011-05-01T12:14:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-01T08:14:18","slug":"robert-bobby-vonda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/robert-bobby-vonda\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Robert “Bobby” Vonda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bobby Vonda's bass guitar graced with bouquets<\/p><\/div>\n

Probably the last time we spoke to one another was about 45 years ago when we were in Mrs. Berlin’s 5th grade class.\u00a0 Every school day, we’d run home during lunch hour.\u00a0 He lived off of Gastineau Avenue and I lived off of Carrol Way at the very end of Gastineau Avenue.\u00a0 After eating a quick lunch, on my run back to school Bobby would wave me down and yell out my name to wait up for him.\u00a0 We’d walk back talking, talking, talking.\u00a0 He sat in the row to my right.\u00a0 During art classes, I’d show him my latest drawing tips from my father.\u00a0 During music class, he sang best, always with that big smile.\u00a0 Funny how he grew up being a musician, I grew up being an artist.\u00a0 Funny how we really hadn’t changed much.<\/p>\n

I remember a loving, spirit freely flashing a quiet kind smile, a young gentleman and always helpful at the drop of a hat.\u00a0 A few years ago, when I was thinking of childhood friends, I thought of Bobby; suddenly it hit me that the 10-year-old was sweet on me – a sweet innocence!\u00a0 I didn’t even realize this until I was almost 50!–Goodness!<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until attending Bobby’s memorial service last night that I was reminded he was a bass player with his brothers’ band and had played music all his life.\u00a0 I forgot he could play pool.\u00a0 I forgot his father was Filipino.\u00a0 I forgot he was married and had a family.\u00a0 I didn’t know he was a Grandfather. \u00a0 Reading his obituary, I was reminded of that 10-year-old running with that free compassionate spirit.\u00a0 It was sad for me to realize we did not grow up as lifelong friends – we had a lot in common:\u00a0 I’ve played music, I was once a pool shark, my father was also Filipino and I was also married with a family and am now a Grandparent too.<\/p>\n

The following is his obituary taken from the memorial service’s program:<\/p>\n

“Robert Joseph Vonda was Raven\/Beaver; Deisheetaawn, Dei shu hit.\u00a0 He was a member of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Sealaska Corporation and Goldbelt Corporation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob completed his GED.\u00a0 He worked with the Forestry Service, then with a local restaurant as a dishwasher and as a Musician which became his top job.\u00a0 He learned how to play his guitar with his brothers and they formed their own band called “The Vonda Brothers.”\u00a0 He also played in a number of other bands with his friends Stan Brown and John Peterson and then with his beloved brother Nicholas Vonda where he enjoyed traveling to Sitka and being with him for weeks at a time; they became “Nick at Night.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob enjoyed all the different seasons especially fishing from the beaches and walking along the shores collecting any interesting item he could find.\u00a0 He fell in love with Hoonah and was truck by the beauty and its surroundings feeling very comfortable in their regular visits back and forth.\u00a0 He received one the of his highest honors during his last trip to Hoonah and was invited up with the tribes to hold the Bear Hat over his loving spouse Myrna’s head during their recent loss of Tony.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob was known to family as Bobby too.\u00a0 He had and loved three other special women in his life; his momma Ella, his daughter Becka and his granddaughter Hailey who is portrayed in their room.\u00a0 An important quality Bob had was that he was not ashamed to show emotions and would cry and share tears during happy and sad times.\u00a0 He would hold photos to his chest and talk with them.\u00a0 He shared many times that one day he would be with his dad, his children and with his brothers.\u00a0 I am sure that he is probably playing his bass guitar with his brothers and making his dad and children smile.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bobby loved all his family; his sisters Jo and Jan.\u00a0 He remembers and still played and sang “All I Have To Do Is Dream” remembering his sisters so his grand kids learned many older songs listening to him.\u00a0 He loved his nephews and nieces always making them feel special; making them laugh or just enjoying a game of pool with them.\u00a0 He really loved Nick, Donna, Bev, Ramon and Jason’s company.\u00a0 He even has catch phrases that all the older grandchildren can recite like “Girls, girls I told you time after time but noooo…”\u00a0 Whenever they did this it made him laugh.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob was a well-loved man; a remarkable person and someone we will miss and treasure as he left an imprint on our hearts.\u00a0 He had a genuine spirit and loved life to its fullest.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Pallbearers:\u00a0 Bruce Nelson, Jordon Sharclane, Robert Sharclane, Jason Vonda, Nick Vonda, Jr., Clifford Brown, Franky Brown\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Honorary pallbearers:\u00a0 Beatrice Brown, Alfred McKinley,Sr., Marjorie Buckner, Pat Owen, Ben Coronell, Cyril George, Sr., Andy Gamble, Paul marks\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Guest Receptionists:\u00a0 Ellen Sharclane, Jenny Sharclane, Audrey Brown
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Probably the last time we spoke to one another was about 45 years ago when we were in Mrs. Berlin’s 5th grade class.\u00a0 Every school day, we’d run home during lunch hour.\u00a0 He lived off of Gastineau Avenue and I lived off of Carrol Way at the very end of Gastineau Avenue.\u00a0 After eating a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-two-cents-and-then-some","category-honoring-others"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1674"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1677,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}