 | | | |
Rest easy Bob.
Montrose lost an icon in Bob Strong this week. A tough Republican and a gentle giant. Many moons ago we worked together at Coast to Coast in Montrose. As Publisher of the Montrose Daily Press he'd send me his one sentence, maybe two, letters to the editor. He was so much more than I can describe. Here's a story we published about Bob in 2016 written by Marilyn Cox titled A "Strong" Voice for Montrose.
Bob loved his coffee group the "The Bored". There's a lot iconic faces in the above photo. It was his favorite business card to hand out. Former MDP Publisher and current columnist, Steve Woody, dedicated this column to Bob in 2020. Here's an excerpt;
There's no way to have a conversation with Strong without a passing reference of Feb. 19, 1945. It was 0930 and Strong was a 19-year-old seaman first class stationed aboard the USS Highlands, an auxiliary support ship with 1,500 Marines destined to land at Red Beach 2 on Iwo Jima, one of the home islands of the Empire of Japan. Strong was part of a four-man crew who operated an LVCP, better known as a Higgins Boat. "It was quiet, the surf at that time was down," Strong told me a few years ago. "A lot of the Marines thought the landing was going to be a piece of cake." He also recalled how the horizon "was black with ships."
There's more on Bob's experience and other life happenings in the column.
For all of Bob's accomplishments I'm sure he was most proud of being married to his bride Phyllis for 71+ years.
Bob Strong's obituary will publish in tomorrow's Montrose Daily Press. You can read it on our website here.
I'm so sad to hear we lost him. Bless you Bob!
Thank you for reading,
Dennis Anderson, Publisher
QUICK LINKS | | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment