Robert Emmett Link

Robert Emmett Link, Jr.
Robert Emmett Link, Jr., 84, of Ellijay Georgia, died December 28th 2014.
He was born to the late Robert and Marie Link, Oct. 27th 1930 in the Bronx, New York. He married Eileen O'Keeffe in 1954 and they lived together in Great Neck and Oyster Bay, NY, before relocating to Ellijay, GA, in 2012 to live with his loving and devoted daughter Nora.
He was raised in Riverdale in the Bronx with his older sister Madeleine, and retold many a wondrous story of their adventures in that then wilderness, including skating on the Hudson River. His father died when Bob was seven. His uncle George Link, Jr., was a great aid to the family and held a special place in his heart. Bob attended Fordham Prep High School and went onto earn his BS in Electrical Engineering at Manhattan College.
Although he had the opportunity to pursue many fields, he selected engineering because of the tremendous role engineers had played during WWII and his sense of duty and country. Engineering was held in high esteem at the time with New York State establishing its first special license plate for professional engineers. He was one of the first registered professional engineers in the state and proudly displayed his PE-68 plate.
After college, Bob joined Sperry Rand at its Lake Success Complex, the former temporary United Nations headquarters. There he worked on the famous UNIVAC computer. In the late 1950s and early 60s he worked with NASA on the Mercury Space Mission, developing the space capsule navigational systems. In 1962 he was stationed in Australia to track John Glenn's historic Atlas 6 orbit, using a radar system he helped develop. He worked for Sperry Rand for 37 years before retiring. At his retirement the CEO described Bob as the most honest and ethical man in the defense industry.
Bob was a great athlete playing many sports as well as captaining his tennis team while at Manhattan College. His real love was playing basketball. He would spend many hours at Van Cortland Park where on occasion he would meet and play pick-up games with Bob Cousy. His love of sports never died and in years to come he won countless industrial league championships in basketball and softball. Bear Mt. and Lake Placid were where he learned to ski and where for a brief time he was an instructor. He taught swimming while a counselor at Candle Stick Lake. He loved the ocean and would spent many a day at Jones Beach.
He was a humble man of many talents and contrasts. He was fond of quoting Marcus Aurelius: "Our life is what our thoughts make it." At ease with quantum mechanics and a lover of math, he was equally attentive to growing his beloved flowering "dinner plate" dahlias and to painting landscapes.
With four children by the time he was thirty, he drove used cars and took no vacations. He drilled into all his five children the importance of education. He was stern yet fair. Dinner conversations were limited to solving math problems and playing "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?" He was proud of each and every one of his five children's accomplishments.
Deeply religious, his faith never wavered. He was greatly concerned about the welfare of others. He sat on many religious and secular boards. He was especially honored to serve on The George Link, Jr. Foundation for thirty years and the George Link, Jr. Charitable Trust for 10 years. He did all he could to take care of the most needy among us. He worked hard to help establish the first shelter for battered women in the Diocese of Rockville Center and supported this and other charities until his death.
He adored his wife Eileen and devoted most of his retirement to taking care of her through her many serious illnesses. He was devoted to his mother and mother-in-law spending most days with them during the last years of their lives.
Bob is survived by his five children: Nora, Kerry, Alannah, Patricia and Robert, and three grandchildren: Kathryn, Isabelle and Robert. He was predeceased by his beloved sister Madeleine, a Carmelite nun of 50 years, St. Baptista; and by his wife Eileen, whom he adored his entire life.
A funeral Mass will be held Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 11:00 am at the St. Anthony Catholic Church in Blue Ridge with Father John Conway officiating. Interment will follow in the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, NY at 11:30 am on Saturday, January 10, 2015.
The family will receive friends Friday afternoon from 2-4 pm at the Henry-Cochran Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Pruitt Cares Foundation, Pruitt Cares Foundation
6050 Appalachian Hwy, Blue Ridge, GA 30513, http://www.pruittcares.org.
Arrangements entrusted to the Henry-Cochran Funeral Home of Blue Ridge. You may send condolences to the family and sign the guest registry at www.cochranfuneralhomes.com.