ROUND LAKE BEACH, IL, USA U.S. Army SGT, COMPANY D, 1ST BATTALION, 178TH INFANTRY, WOODSTOCK, IL JAF FST, AFGHANISTAN 03/15/2009
On Sunday, March 15, 2009, Sergeant Weinger gave his life to his Country in the Nangarhar Province of Eastern Afghanistan. He was 24 years old.
Bob was a lifelong resident of Round lake Beach, graduating from Round Lake Beach High School in 2003.
He loved sports, playing soccer and wrestling on the Round Lake Panthers team.
He was never afraid to show his silly side, keeping up the morale of his friends at home as well as his comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was an avid White Sox and Bears fan, and loved to hunt with his father.
Bob is the loving son of Howard and Susan; dear brother of Paul; cherished grandson of Mary and the late Ira Weinger and James and the late Patricia King; love of his life Tanya Colatorti; fond nephew of Murray (Kathy) and HollyWeinger, Deborah and Victoria King, and Diana (Thomas) Johnston; best friend of Jack Pride and Bill Coots; special cousin to many; loyal friend; proud soldier; and his faithful dog, Bear.
From Robert’s mother:
“I am sorry it has taking me so long to responded. I am having a very difficult time with all of this. Bob has one brother Paul, who is 2 1/2 years younger than Bob. My husband and I have been married for 25 years.
Bob had 2 best friends (Jack and Bill) since he was 5 until his death in March. We called them the 3 stooges. They did everything together including getting in trouble. They were jokers. They worked on their cars and motorcycles together. They did sports together in Junior high and high school. They loved soccer, and wrestling. They knew how to work the parents.
If Annmarie ( Jacks mom) said no, they would ask me and if I said no they would go to Denise (Bills mom). They played us all the time. Bob could make you laugh even when you didn’t want to. He loved to pretend to be other people. He was a true comedian. They all went into the military. He would give you the shirt off his back, if you needed it. He loved very deeply. He finally found the love of his life after he got back from his first tour in Iraq, but never had the chance to truly experience it. He was never married, never had kids, although I wish Tanya (his girlfriend) and Bob would have. That would mean that part of Bob would still be alive.
He held a lot inside him. Bob was a perfectionist. He was never satisfied with what he did, he always thought he could do better. He was an expert in weapons. He got that from his dad. When he got back from this deployment he was going to be a policeman like his dad. He loved life, his family and friends. He was the kind to take chances. He wanted to be in the service since he was 2. He was always wearing a gun belt with a toy gun in it. I only have a few pictures of him as a kid without a toy gun or some kind of weapon in his hand.
Bob never felt like a hero. He would get upset with me when I told him he was in our eyes.
The minute he put on that uniform he was to us.”
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