Nystrom, Robert G.

Robert G. Nystrom, born in 1925, passed after a long illness. For the past 17 years he was married to Juanita (Nita) Davis Nystrom, a marriage that gave him his greatest joys and contentment. Bob was the loving father of his daughter, Lynn, and he taught her many things, including her love of sports, from the time he showed her how to make left-handed lay-ups in a backyard basketball court when she was 10, to her love of animals and to riding horses.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bob was a veteran of World War II, serving his country by participating in the Battle at Normandy, and remaining in France and then crossing into Germany through the remainder of the War. He even rode a horse through the Swiss Alps when the war was over, patrolling for German deserters. He was the first in his family to attend college, using the GI Bill to graduate from Manhattan College.

He married Anne McElhearn in 1950, and they lived in New Jersey, celebrating more than 40 years of marriage before she died of cancer. He moved to Blacksburg in 1992, and soon met Nita. They married in 1993. He greatly enjoyed his new family that included Nita’s four children, Terry Platt and his wife, Susan Brown, of Morganton, N.C., Mike and Susan Platt, of Long Beach, Calif., Susan and her husband, John Palmer, of Goochland, Brad Platt and his wife, Judit and their two children, Robbie and Bradley, of Warrington. He is also survived by his brother, Jack, and sister, Grace, of Marietta, Ga.; his son-in-law, Larry Newman, of Christiansburg; several brother and sisters-in-law; and a multitude of nieces and nephews.
Bob spent his career as a sales manager, selling roofing materials and insulation, and his clients remained with him throughout his career because he always illustrated great concern and attention to detail in making sure all orders were delivered on time and that all customers were treated with respect. He retired early to take care of his first wife, Anne, during her battle with cancer. After Anne’s death, he moved to Blacksburg, where he became involved with the Knights of Columbus at St. Marys Church and a dedicated award-winning volunteer at Montgomery Regional Hospital, now Lewis Gale. When he and Nita married, they enjoyed some traveling, and in general, life in retirement. Bob’s last two decades brought him great happiness because of Nita, a woman he loved dearly.

Funeral Mass will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 24, 2012, in the St. Marys Catholic Church. Interment will follow in the Memorial Gardens of the New River Valley.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Good Samaritan Hospice, 1160 Moose Drive, Christiansburg, VA 24073. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, SW, Blacksburg. 540-552-3211.