Rub-be Danielle – “Bobby”
February 19, 2009
SARANAC LAKE - Rub-be Danielle, known to his many friends as Bobby, died Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh. He had resided and been well cared for at Meadowbrook Health Care facility in Plattsburgh for three years.
Born on March 23, 1919, Bobby lived in Philadelphia as a young boy. At 16, in the middle of the Great Depression, he left home to find work. Bobby cooked in large metropolitan areas along the Atlantic seaboard, and in Baltimore worked at the Hilltop Diner, known for the best crab cakes in the city. This restaurant was the role model for the diner in the 1982 movie, "Diner." He also worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Bobby later worked for A. Edward "Ted" Blackmar, serving as chef in Dr. Blackmar's infirmary at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J. In 1965, Bobby spent his first summer in the Adirondacks as a cook at Camp Forestcraft, founded by Ted in 1948. Beyond serving thousands of delicious meals to hungry campers and summer guests, Bobby will be remembered as a friend to any person who visited Forestcraft and stepped into his kitchen.
As his career in the kitchen came to a close, Bobby chose to stay in his beloved Adirondacks, retiring to one of the camp's winterized cabins. Living a simple life, he loved reading and music, kept a small plot of container tomatoes on his porch during the warmer months, and provided loving care to a mutually devoted, equally independent cat named Meaghan for close to twenty years. Bobby's home was always open to visitors, and every one of us will always remember his huge grin and warm welcome when we stepped through his door.
When no longer able to care for himself, he moved to Meadowbrook, keeping active as much as possible - welcoming visitors and calling close friends every day. Bobby was especially interested in the 2008 presidential election. He watched the television coverage with keen attention. He recently related to one of his frequent visitors that the two biggest highlights of his life were seeing the desegregation of Baltimore and the election of a black U.S. president.
Bobby's burial will be at the Harrietstown Cemetery in the spring. A gathering in his honor will be held during the summer at Camp Forestcraft. Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake.
