ROBERT
LEE REICHARDT Robert
Reichardt, 65, known as "Little Bob" to his friends, died of colon
cancer aggravated by a diabetic coma on May 8, 1992 at the UCSD Medical
Center. A funeral service was held May 12 at the First Lutheran Church
of San Diego, where he had been an active member since 1953, and
interment was at Resthaven Cemetery in West Des Moines, IA, next to his
late parents.
He is survived by his lover of 36 years,
Robert "Big Bob" Nelson and aunt Anne Andrews, both in San Diego, and
half-brother Jack Watrous in Denver, Colo.
Born and raised in Des Moines, lowa.,
where he graduated from Roosevelt High School, Reichardt worked locally
for the Rock Island Railroad, Younkers Dept. Store, had a restaurant,
and then served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, teaching
cryptology at Ft. Ritchie, Md. for three years.
Settling in San Diego in 1953, he worked
for Ryan Aeronautical Co., the General Dynamics Convair Division, San
Diego Lung Assn. and, in 1964, began his 20-year employment as an
eligibility social worker for the San Diego County Dept. of Social
Services, retiring in 1984. Reichardt met Bob Nelson in 1956 and they
lived most of their years together in a home they bought in San Diego's
Middletown District. Although he was a Lutheran, he and Nelson, who was
Roman Catholic, were among the original members of Dignity when the San
Diego chapter was founded in 1973. Reichardt was also a founding member
of the Lutherans Concerned chapter in 1977. He served as an officer in
both organizations over the years, and was a member of the council of
the First Lutheran Church several times.
