Robert J. Gould - In Memoriam

In 1995, software giant Microsoft corporation introduced a product to help computer users who were experiencing problems with their software or hardware. If you didn’t know what to do in a given situation, this animated figure would jump in and help you. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year it was unceasingly helpful and friendly. It never said no and when you were done with it, 99 times out of a hundred, you had the answer to your question. The software program that could and would solve all your problems was named …………“Bob.”

I always suspected that Bill Gates must have modeled his program after our Bob, because helping people was the quintessence of Bob Gould’s life. He lived to serve and help others. Whether it was in the public arena – where, as many of you already know, he was involved in hundreds of policy debates and political campaigns, or in private – where he acted behind the scenes to help scores of family and friends with difficult situations, Bob was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

In our family, we had a simple but effective contingency plan for any emergency – Call Bob. When our four children were young and my wife asked me for detailed instructions for how to carry on in the event something would happen to me, I was able to reassure her with this advice – “If anything ever happens to me, Call Bob, he’ll know what to do.”

And know he did. I’m sure that I am not alone in this room when I say that he was there countless times for us during business and personal crises. He never sought the limelight or took credit. His advice was always on point and well thought out and the only downside was that there was never a way to repay his generosity in kind. Bob never asked for himself, he only gave to others.

In a world full of smart people, Bob was the smartest person I know. And not just book smart, although if you’d ever had more than a momentary conversation with him you’d attest to the fact that he was – in fact – a genius. No, Bob had great wisdom. He prioritized his days so that he could spend his life with Denise, who he adored and the children he so loved. Bob was pursued by many companies and firms who offered him great sums of money to move from Charleston to Chicago, Dallas and New York. Each time, Bob said that there wasn’t a value to be placed on being able to take his kids to school each day or to be able to have lunch with his wife on a regular basis. That’s real wisdom.

Our Sages tell the story of two twins growing up inside their mother’s belly. For nine months the boys grow strong together - nurtured and protected in their mother’s inner recesses until one day a great catastrophe occurs. The world as they know it starts to shake and rumble; the walls of the womb close in on the boys. In horror they scream as the sky opens up and the one twin is sucked from his brother’s grasp. The remaining twin is heartbroken and in shock. He cries out in his sorrow “Brother, brother where have you gone? What has happened to you? Why did this terrible tragedy befall you?

Our sages say that this brother – like us – is hampered by his limited perspective. What he sees as a death is, in fact, a birth. A birth into a life more wonderful and spectacular that can be imagined in the womb.

The sorrow that we feel, the sadness and loss, the grief and emptiness that naturally follow a tragedy of this magnitude, are feelings that we feel for each other and for ourselves. No tears need be spilled for our friend Bob Gould.

He lived a life worth living. He gave to others. He loved and was loved passionately. His days had meaning and his name will be honored by all who knew him.

If, as the holy texts say, “the righteous shall sit at the right hand of the King of Kings” then we know that our beloved Bob is even now at the side of the throne.