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Dear PVLF community,
We are reaching out to let you know that Bob Montague, long-time volunteer, board member, and leader of Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes, passed away on July 26, 2021. (Please see his obituary and details about his upcoming memorial Mass, below).
Bob first got to know the Watsonville community while working for the Santa Cruz County Assessor, in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. He joined Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes as a volunteer in 2000, at the request of a fellow parishioner of Resurrection Church of Aptos. He and his wife Beverly began selecting, hauling, and stocking food sourced from the Second Harvest Food Bank warehouse. Bob continued in that volunteer role for 18 years, coordinating food acquisitions and transporting an estimated 4.5 million pounds of food for our neighbors in need.
Bob also served in a number of other volunteer and leadership roles over the years, including bookkeeper, inventory supervisor, interim Director, and Treasurer and President of the Board of Directors. He would joke, “The only thing I never did was cook lunch.” In total, he gave more than 35,000 hours in support of our mission to assist people in the Pajaro Valley with nutritious food.
Bob brought an energy and commitment to Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes that is unparalleled. His service was rooted in his beliefs and values. He gave of his time and talents wholeheartedly, and he served the community with great compassion and without judgment, accepting and welcoming everyone. He taught us that, despite the many tasks to be done, sometimes the most important thing to do is to stop and connect with the people we serve, to listen to someone in need.
Bob touched, and changed, countless lives during his years at Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes not just through his volunteer service, but also through direct acts of kindness, such as giving someone a ride to rehab or lending someone money for a bus ticket. He left the organization and community so much better than he found it. For his leadership, his thousands of hours of volunteer work, and his outstanding example of service, he was honored as a Community Hero by the United Way and a Hunger Fighter by Second Harvest Food Bank. We commemorate the legacy of his service with our annual Bob Montague Volunteer Service Award, which recognizes dedication and significant contributions to our mission and the community we serve.
Bob was our organization’s greatest ambassador. In addition to giving so generously of his own time, money, and leadership, he inspired many other community members by his example to volunteer, serve on the Board, make donations, and join in our mission. We will miss Bob greatly, and we will honor his memory by continuing to work toward our vision of a Pajaro Valley community where all people have access to healthy food and the other basic necessities of life.
Sincerely,
The Board and Staff of Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes
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Bob and his wife Beverly at Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes
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Robert C. Montague
April 10, 1933 – July 26, 2021
Aptos, California
A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in Aptos on August 21, 2021 for Robert Montague who passed away at his home with his loved ones at his bedside. He was 88 years old.
Robert Chester Montague was born in Fullerton, California. He attended local schools in the Los Angeles area and served his country in the U.S. Coast Guard. Upon completion of his military service, he graduated from Cal Poly SLO in 1960. After working in farming, he began a career in banking that spanned over 27 years, working in agricultural appraisal in the Central Valley of California and San Francisco for Bank of America. Robert moved to the Santa Cruz area in 1988 and worked for several years as an appraiser with the Santa Cruz County Assessor’s Office.
Bob, as loved ones and colleagues affectionately knew him, was a dedicated volunteer for 18 years with Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes. He earned the nickname “Always There Bob” for his devotion to the program. He was a 32-year parishioner of Resurrection Catholic Church in Aptos. Bob also volunteered as a docent at Seacliff State Beach, where he directed Cement Ship history walks, fossil walks, and special tours for numerous scouting and youth organizations. He enjoyed passing on knowledge to the younger people he encountered, and they in turn became benefactors of his passion.
Bob was intelligently curious about places that he visited and topics that he could share with others. He and his wife Beverly were accomplished world travelers, touring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China. Bob would intricately study and research the countries or regions that they would visit well before they traveled. Their daughters treasure Bob’s excellent photographs of beaches, waterfalls, and mountains from their many family camping trips to national, state, and provincial parks.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 65 years, Beverly Montague, his four daughters and sons-in-law, Catherine and Peter Lipson, Marjorie and George Alfs, Donna and Richard Hight, and Nancy and Michael Archer. Bob also leaves his ten loving grandchildren, and his brother and sister-in-law, Norman and Mady Montague. He was preceded in death by his sister, Virginia Craig.
The mass will be celebrated on August 21 at Resurrection Catholic Church (7600 Soquel Drive) in Aptos, beginning at 10 am. He was laid to rest in a private ceremony at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Aptos. A kind act of charity can be made to donate in Bob’s memory to Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes.
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Consuelo and Bob unloading food donations
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“Bob was a wonderful, lovely, and patient person. He always thought of how to help. He did so much for Loaves and Fishes. He always had a smile on his face, no matter what. He was always there for the community and for the staff and volunteers. He was part of my family.”
– Maria Gonzalez, Kitchen Manager
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Bob with PVLF staff, 2008 - left to right, Maria, Brooke, and Vicky
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“I was fortunate to meet Bob early on in my non-profit work. He was my mentor and example of how to serve the community with dignity and respect. He was an inspiring model for how to put faith into action and embody the values of service, compassion, and justice.”
– Brooke Sampson, Board member and former Executive Director
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Bob with PVLF Board members Brooke and Lin at Empty Bowls, 2018
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“Bob was one of the truly holy people I ever met in my lifetime. He had an incredible generosity of spirit that extended to everyone he interacted with. He taught us all so much.”
– Lin Colavin, long-time volunteer and past Board member
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Rosie and Bob, Thanksgiving 2016
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