Robert E Lange (Bob), 56, of Cartersville, Georgia, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, June 23, 2022, with his wife, Denise, and son, William, by his side.
Robert, son of the late Gloria-Ann Lange and Donald Lange, was born on February 11, 1966, in Teaneck, New Jersey. Following high school graduation from Morristown High School in 1984, Bob joined the Marine Corps. In 1986, while stationed at Cherry Point, NC, Bob met the love of his life, Denise, while enjoying leave along the beaches of North Carolina. After serving his enlistment, Bob moved to Montana where he attended the University of Montana in Missoula and completed his certification in Construction Management. Bob and Denise then began their journey together traveling the country from coast to coast moving from Montana to North Carolina, from North Carolina to Colorado, and from Colorado to Florida, before finally settling in Cartersville, Georgia.
Bob's passions included his family, a love of trains and animals, traveling, and heavy equipment.
In his younger years, Bob enjoyed going for long drives with his wife, Denise, just to explore this amazing country together. On one of their "Sunday drives," they found the perfect place to call home and returned with a contract on a house. Later in life, Bob enjoyed "guy trips" with his son, William, and they would take off on a trip at least once a year to a different part of the country on each adventure seeing places like the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, as well as Texas, Washington, DC, and New York City.
After finding the home of his dreams with his loving wife, Denise, he built an amazing outdoor railroad where he spent hours reshaping the slope of the yard to create the perfect railway. He and his son, William, loved to get the trains out and run them from the front yard through the backyard and back again through the tunnels and over the bridges Bob handcrafted. Caring for his outdoor railroad was a labor of love.
His love of animals led Bob to adopt several dogs over the years, with his most recent adoption of Reba, a beautiful black lab mix, being one of his favorites, but he would say they were all his favorites. He enjoyed taking Reba to the beach and swimming with her in the pool. Anywhere Bob went, Reba was always by his side. He never met a dog he didn't love, and they loved him right back. Bob also enjoyed horseback riding, which led to one of his very first jobs at a horse stable caring for horses. Bob truly loved all animals.
Bob had a gift for being able to see a piece of land and visualize how that land could be shaped, then take that plan and bring it to life. He also loved woodworking and, again, could visualize a project and complete it with just that mental image and hard work. Some say he never outgrew his love of Tonka toys and playing in the dirt but rather turned that play into his life's work. He spent 40 years mastering his craft and working on heavy equipment made him the happiest. The team at Earth Development became family over the past 20 years and, ultimately, he spent his last conscious moments running a piece of equipment on a job site. The pride he found in his work will long be remembered by all who knew him.
Bob is survived by his loving wife, Denise, and their loving son, William. He is also survived by his brother, Don Lange, and sister, Karen Lange, niece, and nephews, as well as extended family and friends. A celebration of life is scheduled for August 13, 2022, between 12-3, at the Tidwell Cabin, 1445 Sugar Valley Rd SW, Cartersville, GA 30120. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to Denise and Will Lange via the GoFundMe account that has been generously set up by Bob's company, https://gofund.me/8691e915
