~ IN MEMORY ~
USAF veteran, WA/DL Capt. Robert “Bob” Engel
June 28, 1935 ~ October 13, 2025
Robert (“Bob,” “Dink”) DeLong Engel passed away October 13, 2025 in Seattle, WA. He was surrounded by his loving family.
Bob was born in Peoria, IL to Robert F. and Maurine D. Engel on June 28, 1935. He started his school days in Washburn, IL but it was his dad’s Engineering career working job sites all over the country that eventually landed the family west. At a young age Bob loved cars and knowing how things work. He could fix anything. He was instinctively great at reading maps and getting around. He made friends easily, so moving often as a young boy suited him well. In 1947, the family packed up their new red Studebaker Champion and headed to Richfield, UT. Then they went further west to Bishop, CA where Bob took on a love of skiing and the mountains. The next move was to San Mateo, CA where they bought their first house but uprooted often to temporary job sites in Blackfoot, Idaho and Sweetwater, TX. In these places Bob always had a job often on a nearby farm cleaning eggs or harvesting potatoes. He had several paper routes and cherished his Wards Hawthorne bike with its large wire basket that could hold 60 papers.
Bob graduated from San Mateo High School and went on to San Jose State University where he was in ROTC and a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity.
After graduation, Bob joined the United States Air Force where he went to flight school. After training he was stationed in Ramstein, Germany as a squadron member of the F100 Super Sabre – the world’s first supersonic military aircraft. Bob was a great story teller and there were plenty of stories to tell about the training missions and comrarderie during these years. On one such training mission to France, the bold pilots couldn’t resist a little fun and buzzed the Eiffel Tower. On another mission, Bob and two others were dropped in the German forest with limited supplies and directions. With map and compass they avoided ending up in East Germany. One member of the group tapped out early, but Bob and the other spent several days testing their skills in survival and navigation.
In 1963, Bob was home from Germany. He brought with him a Super-90 Porsche convertible that he bought at the factory. He loved everything about cars. He shared this passion with his dad and they would often travel to car shows and work on cars together.
He retired from the USAF and settled in Tucson where he was a safety officer of the Air National Guard again flying the F100 and later the F102. It was there that he met his beautiful wife to be, Charlene. They soon moved to Foster City, California where Bob was based with Western Airlines (“The Only Way to Fly”). He had a long career as a commercial pilot retiring as a Delta Air Lines Boeing 757 and 767 Captain after 30 years. Being a commercial pilot allowed he and Charlene to raise their family in beautiful places. After Foster City and Sonoma, CA they lived in Reno, NV. Bob loved water skiing and cruising around in his boat at Lake Tahoe and snow skiing at Mt. Rose.
After retiring, Bob and Charlene moved to Port Townsend, WA in the Pacific Northwest. They fixed up several homes and loved living in the quirky maritime town. Bob was a member of the Rakers car club, he supported the Port Townsend Aero Museum at the Jefferson County Airport, and loved attending and volunteering at the Wooden Boat Festival. He loved lunch at the airport on a nice day. Bob had an incredible library of books that many book collectors might envy. Both he and Charlene loved following Seattle Sports. They planned and ventured many trips together that included their favorite places – Italy and Cannon Beach. They put in many miles to Florida, Nevada, and Canada to be with grandkids.
Bob is survived by his wife of 60 years, Charlene, his three children – Trent “Richard” Engel, Michelle Little (Larry) and Anne Newlin (Lance). Nine grandchildren – Sam, Natalie, Charlotte, Claire, Cameron, Emily, Jake, Hannah and Grace. One great-granddaughter Whitney and one on the way. His brother Jim (Lynn Johnson) and sister Barbara (Norm Anderson, deceased). And his nieces and nephew Amy, Barry, Allison, Peter (deceased) and Maurine.
Family and friends are invited to share memories of Bob and sign the online guestbook.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/robert-engel-obituary?id=61480331