Robert Paul Mandel

On May 29, 2023, Robert Paul “Bob” Mandel, 81, passed away at home with his loving wife, Barbara by his side.

Bob was born on Feb. 9, 1942, to Leonard and Lucille Mandel in the Bronx borough of New York City, N.Y. Bob’s father worked as a New York Supreme Court Justice and his mother was a court stenographer.

As a child, Bob successfully overcame Dyslexia and ADD and learned sign language so he could talk to a deaf friend.

Bob attended William Taft High School and was known for driving his friends around in an old hearse complete with purple curtains. After graduation in 1959, he worked as a pool boy at Shawanga Lodge, one of the Borscht Belt hotels located atop the Shawangunk mountain range of the Catskills in Highview, N.Y. From there, with several stops along the way, Bob operated a trash company, Liberty Services Incorporated, in Paterson, N.J. which he later sold to Waste Management.

In the early ‘80s, Bob met the love of his life, Barbara Mary Hadrys while attending a ‘How to be Alone’ meeting in Paramus, N.J. He tapped her on the shoulder and said “Gee, you sure are pretty” and then offered her a ride in his Corvette, one his collection of 19-20 Vettes. They married on June 6, 1983.

Since departing the trash business, Bob spent most of his career working for non-profit organizations that served the needs of children. In 1992, after 17 years with Special Olympics, he and Barbara moved to New Mexico where he worked for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Several years later, they relocated to Mexico, living in Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta for 20 years. While there, he helped form the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Mexico and was still a board member at the time of his death.

In November of 2015, he and Barbara returned to the states, settling in Fountain Hills. Never one to sit still, in 2016 Bob founded Bob’s Free Bikes whose mission continues to provide a bike for any child, 18 years old and younger, in the greater Phoenix, Ariz. metropolitan area who would otherwise not be able to have one.

Bob truly believed in community, service to that community, and connecting to others through time well spent. He believed our world could be improved if everyone simply dedicated a little bit of their time towards the common good.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Bob’s Free Bikes, bobsfreebikes.org.

Interment will be at the Riverside Cemetery, Saddlebrook, N.J. If you visit, look for the headstone that says, “THANKS FOR COMING BUT PARDON ME FOR NOT GETTING UP”. You’ll know it’s Bob.