Obituary of Robert Potdevin

Robert A. "Bob" Potdevin died peacefully at his home in Laurel, New York, on August 11, 2013. He was 86 years old. Bob was the patriarch of the Potdevin family and preferred family gatherings on Great Peconic Bay over all else, especially if they included dogs and boats. He was happiest with a view of the Bay and it was particularly beautiful the day he died. Bob was born February 16, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, to MathildaFetzer and Adolph Potdevin. He grew up in Garden City, New York, and excelled in track and soccer in high school. Bob enlisted in the Army Air Corps and participated in the Berlin Airlift after World War II, based in Oberpfaffenhofen. He later attended Hofstra University. Bob married his high school sweetheart, the late Ruth Hauser on April 28, 1951. The couple moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey, where they raised four children, Robert Scott, James Todd, Jan Carol and Roger Dodge Potdevin. The Potdevins were avid tennis players and were members of the Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club and the North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue, New York. The family enjoyed boating and took many extended boats trips on the Weather Lee's II, III and IV, from Montreal to the coast of Maine to Florida and the Bahamas. The family traveled extensively, frequently combining Bob's business with pleasure to far flung destinations. Ruth Potdevin died tragically on May 30, 1985, and son Roger died on April 11, 2005 after a brief illness. Bob was the President and CEO of the Potdevin Machine Company, based in Teterboro and West Caldwell, New Jersey, a manufacturer of packaging machinery which is sold both nationally and internationally. He was a packaging industry leader, including a term as President of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute. Bob was also active in Rotary International and served on the board of directors of the Hackensack, New Jersey, YMCA. Bob married Martha Covington, née Fogg, on December 7, 1989. Bob and Martha split their time between Ridgewood and Laurel, later spending more and more time at their Great Peconic Bay home, which they loved. Bob is survived by his beloved wife, Martha. He also leaves behind sons Robert of Basking Ridge, New jersey and James of Juneau, Alaska, and daughter Jan Munier of Falmouth, Massachusetts, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A memorial gathering will be held September 12 at Vander Plaat Funeral Home, www.vpfh.com, 257 Godwin Avenue, Wyckoff, New Jersey, between the hours of 2 and 4 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to the Mattituck Yacht Club, P. O. Box 1126, Mattituck, NY 11952 or K9s For Warriors, www.k9sforwarriors.org, 260 S. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082.