Robert Fitzgerald Ryder

Robert (Bobby) was born on September 30, 1938, to William and Mabel Ryder in Durham, North Carolina.  Most of his childhood was spent in the Oak Grave area.  He graduated with the class of 1956, which was the last year for Oak Grove High School.  It was consolidated with several other county High Schools, and became Southern High School.  

Later in 1956 Bobby went to work with the A&P Food Store.  After 3 years the store was organized by the Retail Clerks International Union.  Bobby became a big part of the program in their later negotiations with the company.  At the age of 23, he was hired by a small local union, Local 441, in Jacksonville, Florida as their President.  After 10 years in Local 441, he was hired by the International Union and was assigned as a Region Coordinator in the Philadelpia Division, and covered the area of North Philadelpia and Lower New York.  After a year he was assigned to Local 1222 in San Diego, California as a Deputy Trustee.  In 1975, while working there, he met his future wife, Anita.  

After working in the Local 1222 in San Diego, Bonny was transferred to Sacramento as a Field Assistant for International Union, working out of the Region office.  It was during this time in 1978 that he and Anita were married.  He also became a step dad to Anita's 10 year old son, Jeff.  

Bobby was promoted to Collective Bargaining Representative, which was the position that he enjoyed the most.  He, Anita and Jeff spent 2 years in New Jersey while he worked out of the Philadelphia office.  They were thankfully tranferred back to Sacramento in 1981, again working out of the Region office.  He spent the last years before retirement as Executive Assistant to the Regional Vice President.  

Bobby was an avid golfer and after retirement spent most of his time playing golf, first living in Rocklin and then Rancho Murieta.  He and Anita also loved going to Disneyland and went as often as they could.  

Bobby and Anita had 46 wonderful years together and were enjoying their retirement years living in Rancho Murieta when he passed away on February 3, 2024.