Obituary of Robert Joseph Stanish

Robert Joseph Stanish “Bob”, a longtime resident of Volcano, slipped away peacefully Wednesday evening December 13, 2023, surrounded by his family.

Bob was born in Niagara Falls, NY on February 12, 1943. He was raised in Oil City, PA surrounded by a large Ukrainian family. A proud Pennsylvanian, he was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bob enlisted in the US Navy at 18 and travelled the world as a flight engineer on P-3 Orions, the submarine chasers. He served in Vietnam where he earned the Air Medal. He was proud of his time in VP46, the Grey Knights squadron. While stationed at NAS Moffett Field, he would be deployed to: Adak, AK; Keflavik, Iceland; Misawa, Japan, and places unknown in the Indian Ocean. He retired after a 20-plus year service in the Navy, and he maintained lifelong friendships with his Navy buddies.

Bob and his family started building their dream home in Volcano in 1981. He officially moved to Volcano with his wife and youngest son in 1991 after building their house over the course of ten years. He worked for Kamps Propane where he enjoyed meeting people, seeing the county, and “passing gas.”

Bob was a hot rodder from his early teen years. Roadster Bob enjoyed building many street rods, logging miles to tons of hot rod shows, and meeting friends along the way. Bob was one of the original creators of the Volcano Cannonball Run Car Show.

Bob was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and hunting. After he retired for good, he joined the first class of the California Department of Fish and Game’s Natural Resource Volunteer Program. He worked out of the Fish and Game office in Rancho Cordova fielding phone calls, pulling bear teeth, validating deer tags, and provided support on a big horn sheep tagging project in southern California.

Bob’s favorite place to spend time was at the Volcano Country Store. He'd shoot the breeze, talk about rodeo, and share laughs with the crew where he was known as Steeler Bob.

Bob was most proud of his family. He is survived by his wife of over 55 years, Maureen and their three children, son, Joseph (Annie), daughter, Stacy, and son, Patrick; as well as two granddaughters, Kylie, and Kamryn. He is also survived by his brother, David Stanish and sister, Linda LaChance, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations in Bob’s memory to be made to Amador STARS, 60 Ridge Rd. Ste. D, Sutter Creek, CA 95685 www.amadorstars.org.

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