Robert (Bob) Bartz, age 81 of Ironton passed away on January 6th, 2021 at the Cuyuna Regional Care Center in Crosby. Bob was born Nov 19, 1939 in St Paul to Michael and Florence (Bly) Bartz. He graduated from Washington High School, and went on to get a degree in electronics from NEI. He worked in his field over 40 years. He started in radio and television repair, and moved on to work at Honeywell and Alliant Tech Systems until his layoff in 1992. He and his wife moved to Ohio to seek work with American Monarch (Japlar/Schauer) where they lived for 7 1/2 years before returning to Minnesota. He worked for Railway Equipment in Delano until being laid off at which point he retired from the field. He and his wife retired to Crosby, where he lived until his passing. Bob took great joy in remodeling homes, well before it was in fashion. He also enjoyed tinkering, fishing, and spending time with family.
He is survived by his wife Lucretia (Lucy) of 30 years, brother Richard of St. Paul, sister Ruth Jerikovsky of Inver Grove Heights, 3 sons; Brian (Deb) of Ramsey, David (Bethany) of Grand Marais and Justin (Pamela) of Butterfield; 3 daughters-Cheryl (Kurt) Nelson of Forest Lake, Emily (Ben) Geffre of Minneapolis and Leona (Johnathan) Miller of Big Fork; 17 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
He is proceeded in death by his parents, 1 brother-Donald and 1 sister-Deloris.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 23rd at the Deerwood Baptist Church in Deerwood (23546 Forest Road). A visitation will be held from noon until the time of the service on Saturday at the Church. In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred. Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby.