A Lifetime, A Legacy: The Multifaceted Robert L. Penrose
Bob and Ann on the beach with children Bob Jr. and Nancy in 1958.
Robert L. Penrose lived his life deeply rooted in Avalon’s history, much like the petrified tree that sat outside his family’s historic home in past centuries.
Though, the lifestyle of this multifaceted man better known as Bob was not fossilized.
Penrose, who died June 26 at age 89, was Ann Mecke Penrose’s husband of 66 years and the father of their eight children, grandfather of 13, and great-grandfather of four. He was a U.S. Army veteran, an accountant, a carpenter, a realtor, a fitness buff, an actor, a Pennsylvania Red Cross and Bryn Mawr Hospital volunteer, a boat captain, and the author of “Avalon on the Seven Mile Beach,” a hardcover book packed with detailed historic facts and photos of Avalon in bygone days.
His children agree that Penrose’s passion for history was interlocked with deep love for his family. It all began when their dad met Ann through mutual friends in Avalon during the 1940s. Dances for teens were then held above the movie theater on the Municipal Pier on 29th Street. Her future husband, who grew up in Upper Darby and Wynnewood, Pa., worked as a lifeguard and as a waiter in the Avalon Hotel back in those days, his spouse recalls.
Ann, a native of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., spent summers with her family in their grand, old Avalon home on 9th Street. The fossilized tree outside of that house was discovered when a 60-foot high dune between 9th and 12th Streets was removed to make way for late-19th century con-struction, as Bob noted in his book. The petrified tree was removed in 1925. Despite its sentimental value, the tree was deemed to be standing in the way of progress. Still, the many branches of the Penrose/Mecke family tree continue to gather together in the lovely home that they affectionately dub “Monstrosity.”
Bob Jr., the oldest of the Penrose offspring and retired owner of Robert Penrose Jr. Custom Homes in Cape May Court House, has been the primary caretaker of Monstrosity for the past 40 years. The seeds for his dad’s meticulously researched book were planted when he looked into the history of the family’s late-19th century Carpenter Gothic style Avalon home, says his son. His father was a regular at the Borough of Avalon and the Cape May County clerk offices, where he examined old newspapers and put historical pieces together for some 18 years in order to preserve island history, Bob Jr. says. “Dad was a detailed-oriented guy.” While researching and writing the book, the elder Penrose worked in the contracting and real estate sales.
Another son, Andy, remembers the regular sight of “Dad’s papers all over the dining room table,” complete with yellow, lined legal writing pads and pencils. “Dad’s book was his life’s passion,” says daughter Judy Penrose Smith before opening one of her father’s files, a folder filled with neat, orderly penciled notes that detail his extensive “railroad walks.”
Indeed, Bob had a passion for railroad history, too. He worked as the editor and a contributor to The Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society’s “The High Line” publication for years. So “railroad walks” through the remains of old railroad lines in Pennsylvania and New Jersey were common pastimes for Penrose, often with children in tow, Bob Jr. and Andy recall.
“Dad explored” the former railroad lines that brought the earliest visitors to Avalon, notes Bob Jr. He occasionally accompanied his father on treks to sites in places like Sea Isle Junction or Wildwood, or offshore wooded areas in Woodbine.
“Amy, Carolyn and I walked the New-town Square [Pa.] railroad line with Dad,” Andy says, before mentioning some of the challenges those “train walks” entailed. Prickles, bug bites, and dogs chasing them as they cut through people’s backyards were among them.
“ ‘But just one more picture!’ Dad would say” as he clicked away, Andy says.
These walks put no physical strain on Penrose. “Dad was very physically fit,” Bob Jr. says. “He ran before it was fashionable.” Moreover, “Dad had a routine that included doing pull-ups on radiator pipes in the cellar.”
“We had an active dad” who wholeheartedly participated in activities with his children, Judy says. Activities included sledding, ice skating, camping, swimming, fishing and more. Judy recalls fishing with her father in a small motorboat and riding go-karts in Sea Isle City. Andy remembers the younger siblings fishing on the Miss Avalon charter yacht with their dad and riding amusements on Wildwood’s boardwalk.
Back at home, their mother saw to it that their dad and his crew had all of the essentials – like homemade sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil – that made these outings with their father possible and pleasant, Judy muses.
“Mom maintained the infrastructure!” Andy says matter-of-factly.
Furthermore, Bob Sr. pursued other activities in Avalon like sailing, first on a Sunfish and later on a Laser. Plus, he took up bicycling and pedaled through 2018, even as he battled the complications of Alzheimer’s disease that led to his passing.
In earlier days, back in the family’s hometown of Narberth, Pa., Penrose was a member of the Narberth Community Theater. There he pitched in as a fundraiser, producer, director, lead actor, stagehand and prop master, says Bob Jr. His father went on to become a member of the Screen Actors Guild and land bit parts in movies like “Blow Out,” “Witness” and “Rocky II” among others filmed in Philadelphia during the late 1970s and 1980s. He also worked as an actor in soap operas produced in New York, and in commercial advertising. “You could never tell where he would turn up!” Bob Jr. says.
Not only that, Bob Penrose Sr. became a bareboat captain in his 60s and 70s. He sponsored and skippered trips to the British Virgin Islands in ways rich with deja vu. His adult children and other family members accompanied Bob.
“The captain,” Andy says, ever so softly.
