Robert "Bob" De Selms

Robert James De Selms, age 82, of Toledo, Ohio passed away on Sunday, January 7, 2024.  The youngest of five children, Bob was born at home on June 30, 1941 in Toledo, Ohio to Lorin and Violet (Wicks) De Selms.  He proudly served his country in the United States Army, during the Vietnam War and was stationed in Korea for a year on the DMZ, before being honorably discharged.  After his time with the service, he worked in the press shop at Jeep Corporation, retiring in 2001 after 30 years of service.  Bob had a strong work ethic.  He would show up for work on time to do his job, without calling off.  He passed that on to his two sons, and granddaughter who also work for Jeep now.

Bob loved to play golf and went to school to learn how to make and repair custom golf clubs.  He did this in his spare time, after work and weekends out of his garage.  After retiring he was asked to work for Golf-R-Way, working as their club man.  He did this for many years, until their closing then he went back to working out of his garage.  He had very many loyal customers who continued to come to the house.

Bob loved bowling, golfing, camping, and hunting or anything he could do to spend time and make memories with his sons. He also coached baseball many years for East Side Central.  Bob had four wonderful grandkids he thought the world of and would do anything for them.  He attended all their sporting events to watch them play.

Bob is survived by his loving wife of almost 60 years, Karen (McHue) De Selms; sons, Scott (Tammy) De Selms, and Jeffry (Christina) De Selms; grandchildren, Megan, Bryan, Lukas, and Lyndsey; and his half-brother, Douglas De Selms of Chicago, IL.  He was preceded in death by his parents; and siblings, Doris Apthorpe, Shirley Bunce, Tommy De Selms, and William De Selms.

A memorial gathering will be held at Freck Funeral Chapel, 1155 S. Wynn Rd in Oregon on Saturday, January 20, 2024, from 4-6:00 p.m. where a memorial service will follow at 6:00 p.m.  His final resting place will take place at Lake Township Cemetery.  Memorial contributions can be made to Susan G. Komen for Breast Cancer Research.

We thought of so many things that in our lives you did tend, the role you played for all of us, husband, father, son, grandpa, brother, uncle, and friend.  And then we know the time had come for us to let you go, to bid our last good-bye to you and say, “We love you so”.

He never looked for praises.  He was never one to boast.  He just went on quietly working for the ones he loved the most.  His dreams were seldom spoken, his wants were very few, and most of the time his worries went unspoken too.  A true friend we could turn to when times were good or bad.  One of our greatest blessings, the man that we called Dad.