Robert (Bob) Lee Ainsworth Sr.
October 29, 1942 – September 20,2024
Robert (Bob) Lee Ainsworth Sr, 81, passed away peacefully in his home on September 20, 2024, in Puyallup, WA, surrounded by his loving family, after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Bob was born on October 29, 1942 in Berkley, CA. Bob was the second born of 12 children and the eldest son of Guy and Nadine Ainsworth. In 1952, the family moved from the bay area, north to Kent, WA. After a couple years residing in Kent, and a quick residence in Renton, the Ainsworth family made Enumclaw their home, where most of the family resides today. Bob graduated from Enumclaw High School in 1960 and moved to Pullman, where he began studying at Washington State University. After finishing his second semester of school, Bob accepted an opportunity that would mark the next four decades of his life. Bob’s career began with North Pacific Railroad in Auburn, WA. For the next 21 years, the railroad took Bob, a Clerk, to several rail yards, including Auburn, Everett and Tacoma. In 1970, North Pacific merged and he began working under Burlington Northern Railroad. In January 1982, Bob made his final move to the Tacoma yard. Ten years later, Bob became the Customer Support Supervisor for the Tacoma Yard and in 1995, the railroads merged again and he became employed by Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Bob retired in October 2002 after 41.5 years of service.
Bob served as an executive board member for the railroad credit union for 10 years and 5 of those years he served as Chairman of the Board. In 1998, Bob began working in transportation for the Puyallup Fair. His time was spent driving various celebrities, judges, and running errands. He continued this “fun gig” until his last season in 2017. He loved the friends he met, the food he ate and the stories he collected. The fair named him Employee of the year in 2017, a title he accepted humbly, and certainly deserved.
During his “retirement”, he took on the role as Club Manager of the Puyallup Daffodil Aerie, 2308 – The Fraternal Order of Eagles. Bob was the manager for 2.5 years, Treasurer for 12 years, served on the Aerie ritual team,CancerChairman, and volunteered for hundreds of dinners and luncheons, including the famous Saturday soup and sandwich, Eddie’s Spaghetti and Sunday breakfast.
Bob married his first wife, Verna in October of 1962. They welcomed three children Rebecca, Robert Jr and Jennifer into their family. While their marriage did not stand the test of time, they were able to co-parent and raise their children together and spent many holidays and family birthday’s celebrating their legacy.
In 1981, Bob met the love of his life, Shireen Bischoff Kolowinski. Bob and Shireen were married June 8, 1985 at the Enumclaw Golf Course. Shireen brought her three children to the marriage, Brad, Charlene and Carrie.
Bob is preceded in death by his late wife Shireen, ex-wife Verna, his parents; Guy and Nadine Ainsworth, his step-son; Brad Hurd, and his siblings; Jerry Ainsworth, Carol Brevik, Duane Ainsworth and Debbie Love. He is survived by his siblings; Jody Scott, Judy Fosberg, Sandy Barton, Denise (Gordy) Vanhoof, Mavis Martinson, Gary Ainsworth and Delores Wagner, brother-in-law Ron Brevik, and sister-in-law Kari Ainsworth. Children; Rebecca Ainsworth, Charlene (Dianne) Ellis, Robert Ainsworth Jr, Jennifer (Ryan) Koehn and Carrie (Mike Sader) Kolowinski. Bob was the proud grandfather/ great-grandfather to 29 children.
Please join us in celebrating the life of this remarkable and giving man on Monday, October 28, 2024 at 12:00 pm at the Buckley Eagles Club #1387 located at 29021 State Route 410 E, Buckley, WA 98321.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made payable to the Puyallup Eagles Aerie #2308 Cancer Fund.
