Bob has a special place in Bryan Boer and Jeff Boer’s hearts as someone who gave them their first job in the heating and cooling industry, gave them a solid grounding in the trade and provided a launching pad to begin Boer Brothers Heating and Cooling. We wish Bob and his family well.
For Bryan, he wanted to honor Bob for acting as his mentor and teaching him much about the trade, perseverance in the face of obstacles and an orientation toward customer service.
Robert Bauman, founder and president of BEAMCo of Chapel Hill, was in business in the construction trades for nearly 45 years. He was a graduate of Catonsville (Md) High School in 1953 and an Eagle Scout with Catonsville Troop 309. After graduating from Bucknell University where he studied engineering and graduated with a degree in mathematics, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers. After active duty, Bob remained in the U. S. Army Reserve program and retired as a full colonel. Bob did graduate work in mathematics at American University, then graduated with a master’s degree in Engineering Administration from George Washington University. In 1973, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recruited Bob to join the agency as a scientist and manager at its national air pollution research facilities in RTP, NC. For the next 22 years, Bob served as a manager with the EPA and retired in 1995.
He was a licensed contractor in electrical and mechanical, plumbing, commercial refrigeration, residential, institutional, and commercial heating and air conditioning. Bob made a positive impact on the hundreds of lives that he touched and mentored which is the true measure of a life well-lived. He was a loving husband, father, brother and grandfather. He was loved and respected by many and will be missed incredibly.
This is the poem that they read at Bobs funeral…perfectly described him
It Couldn’t Be Done
by Edgar A. Guest
The perfect poem for the ‘get the job done’ dads of the world!
Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.