HADLEY, MA – Robert John McCormick, Jr., 72, most recently of East Longmeadow, MA, died after a brief illness on July 24, 2018, at Elaine Center, Hadley, under the care of Hospice of the Fisher Home. Bob was born in Springfield, MA on April 14, 1946, to Robert C. McCormick and Josephine A. Ciborowski McCormick. Raised in Springfield and Chester with younger siblings Thomas and Patricia, Bob graduated from Chester High School in 1964, where he was a member of the student council, recognized for outstanding educational achievement as a member of the honor society, and active in sports. He received a Congressional nomination to West Point by Representative Silvio O. Conte, but chose to attend University of Massachusetts, then later Western New England University College of Engineering from which he graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. In 1969 Bob graduated from the US Army Southeastern Signal School in Fort Gordon, GA with an honor graduate diploma for completing the tactical circuit controller course. He was a Viet Nam Veteran, having served as PFC, Company A, 7th Battalion with the U.S. Army, 1970-1971. Bob was married to Collette Bussiere from 1973-2000, and together they raised their three children, Ian, Bryan and Elizabeth, in Westfield. His former wife and their children were by his side and surrounded him with love in his final days. The majority of his thirty year career as an aviation and aerospace manufacturing engineer was with United Technologies Corp., which employed him with Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney. A career highlight was participating in the design of a specialized room made for manufacturing parts with combustible chemicals that
explodes outwards and not in on itself, which increased occupational and environmental safety. For four years his work took him to Poland where he met his second wife, Kasia McCormick, to whom he was married from 2003-2013. Bob adopted her son, Bartek, and together they raised him in Farmington, CT. Bob continued to consult as a manufacturing engineer project manager until several years before his death. He was a member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Bob enjoyed golf, adventuring on solo trips, and pursued his interest in geology later in life. One of his greatest adventures was designing and building with his engineering colleagues a raft that they navigated for four days from White River Junction down the Connecticut River. He loved making maps, and was an avid Red Sox fan, keeping track of the scores however he could, even if only on the back of a napkin. Bob was a beloved resident at Bluebird Estates in East Longmeadow and brought stories, jokes and cheer to his fellow residents. He will be dearly missed. Bob was predeceased by his parents, Robert McCormick and Josephine Sanuta, and brother, Thomas McCormick.
Bob leaves his sister, Patty Pettricelli and her husband Jimmy Pettricelli of Westfield and their son Andy Pettricelli of Los Angelos, CA; his children Ian McCormick of Holyoke; Bryan Campbell McCormick, his wife Caroline Campbell McCormick and their daughter Louise Annabel Campbell McCormick, of Arlington; his daughter Elizabeth McCormick and her partner Scott Craven of Northampton; and his former wife Collette Bussiere of South Hadley. He also leaves his son Bartek McCormick and former wife Kasia McCormick, both of Farmington, CT; and dear friend John Boduch of Manchester, CT. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, August 2nd, 2018 at 3:00 p.m. at the Massachusetts Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, coordinated by the Williamsburg Funeral Home (www.hampshirecremation.com). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the recreation program at Bluebird Estates, East Longmeadow.
