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The Toledo Blade, Ohio, Wednesday, 8 September 2021
Robert ?Bob? Bassitt
1933-2021
Refinery worker helped maintain parks, wetlands
Robert "Bob" Bassitt, a longtime Oregon refinery employee and a versatile community volunteer, died Thursday in his Northwood home. He was 88.
The family did not report the cause of death.
Mr. Bassitt retired in 1991 after 35 years with what now is BP-Husky Toledo Refinery in Oregon, most recently as a process supervisor.
In retirement, he worked part-time helping maintain Pearson Metropark in Oregon for a few years until retiring permanently in the late-1990s to focus on his grandchildren, Michael Bassitt, his son, said.
The elder Mr. Bassitt also volunteered in a similar role at Middlegrounds Metropark near downtown Toledo from 2015 to 2018, when he stopped for health reasons.
His son said Mr. Bassitt centered his life on his children and grandchildren, some of whom followed in his steps as athletes and as refinery employees.
"I think of him as a good-natured father and a hard worker who was extremely supportive of his family," Michael Bassitt said. "And he loved to share his love of nature with others through the many volunteer projects that he led."
Mr. Bassitt especially enjoyed helping preserve wetland areas, including those at Nature Trails Park in Northwood, which he was instrumental in designating. He also wrote proposals for grants to fund their preservation, his son said.
Additionally, he planted at least 80 evergreens around a pond near Curtice Road and I-280 in the mid-1990s as a volunteer for the city of Northwood.
In the mid-to-late 1990s, he was involved with a group that helped reintroduce the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park.
From about 2005 to 2010, he was a support volunteer at the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, talking to residents one-on-one. He also volunteered for the Northwood Local Schools when his children went there from the early-1970s through the mid-1980s.
In part, he spearheaded the installation of lights at the Northwood High School football stadium about 1975, which allowed the school to host night games. He was also active in the school district's athletic boosters.
Mr. Bassitt was born Aug. 26, 1933, in Lima, Ohio, to Mary and Robert Bassitt, the oldest of seven children.
He was a 1951 graduate of Lima Central High School, where he played varsity football and baseball, then went on to play football for the University of Kentucky. Mr. Bassitt played there for two years when legendary University of Alabama Head Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant was UK's head coach from 1946 to 1953.
Mr. Bassitt left college as a sophomore in order to support his family when his mother died unexpectedly. He went back home to work at what was then the Standard Oil Co. refinery in Oregon.
About 1957, he married Cora Jayne Teegardin. They raised three children together. She died in 2019.
Over the years in his free time, he liked to be with his family, especially visiting his children's and grandchildren's athletic events, and traveling. He also raised wild turkeys for several years in the 1970s.
Mr. Bassitt was a member of the Christ Dunberger American Legion Post 537 in Oregon, where he served on the color guard and as the post historian. He also was active in the Pheasants Forever nature group in Toledo in the 1980s.
He was preceded in death by his wife and two brothers.
Surviving are his sons, John and Michael Bassitt; daughter, Julie Tucholski; sisters, Carol Williams, Linda Derth, Pat Miller, and Mary Gerdeman; six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at Freck Funeral Chapel, 1155 S. Wynn Rd., Oregon, where funeral services will immediately follow.
The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or the American Legion post.
Contact Mike Sigov at sigov@theblade.com or on Twitter @mikesigovblade.
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