Issue:
January 2024 | Obituary
Tribute to Bob Kirschenbaum
If I were allowed only three words to describe Bob Kirschenbaum, I would say that he was “a good man”. That may sound inadequate to describe someone of Bob’s quality and stature, but the word good can mean many different things.
It can mean simply someone who is kind and generous to others – a true friend. Bob was certainly that. It can mean a person of honesty and integrity. Bob was certainly that too. Or it can mean someone who is fair minded, upright and caring. Bob was all of those things and more.
He was an avuncular figure – the name “Uncle Bob” would have suited him well. Bob was someone you could tell your troubles to and get a sympathetic hearing, but he was never judgemental. I rarely heard him criticise others.
His genial smile was never forced. With Bob, the quality of friendship was never strained (to paraphrase Shakespeare).
He was a connoisseur of good wines (and whiskies) but I never saw him in his cups.
It’s difficult to imagine the FCCJ without Bob. He was not just part of the institution after an incredible 60 years of continuous membership; he was an institution in himself. A benign presence and stabilising influence, he was clubby in the best sense of the word.
He had been in failing health for several years but he didn’t let that deter him from coming almost daily to what was in effect his second home: the FCCJ
In more recent years, he came with the aid of a walking stick and later in a wheelchair until he entered a care home in Saitama prefecture.
Those of us who visited Bob during that time were always impressed by his invariable good cheer and undying concern for the welfare of the FCCJ. He seemed almost to care more about the health of the club
than about his own health.
I will not say “rest in peace”, Bob, because you were never one to rest when there were things so be done. Instead, I will say “go in peace” and God bless you as you continue your journey.
Anthony Rowley is a columnist and contributor for the South China Morning Post.
