Robert P. Kaye's Obituary
With heavy hearts, the Kaye family shares news of the passing of Robert (“Bob”) Paul Kaye, 87, on December 7, 2025, in Lake Worth, Florida.
Bob was known for his remarkable intelligence, quick wit, old-school social graces, and, most of all, his love for his family. He was born in 1938 at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City and raised in Brooklyn until age 14, when his family moved to Long Island. He graduated early from Lynbrook High School, having skipped three grades throughout his studies. At 16, he enrolled at Bucknell University, where he earned a B.A. in chemical engineering and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammy) fraternity.
In 1960, he met his future wife of 65 years, Phyllis Krieger. They married in 1961 and had their first son, Jonathan Scott, followed by sons Michael Ian and Jeffrey Stuart. His decades-long career with the Celanese Corporation brought the family to many locations across the United States, including Charlotte, NC (twice); Fremont, CA; Norwalk, CT; Louisville, KY; and Westford, MA, before he and Phyllis settled in Montville, NJ, and later Jamesburg, NJ, where they were near to their three sons, four grandchildren, and extended family living in the New York metro area. During those years, they enjoyed winters as snowbirds, golfing in Lake Worth, Florida, which they eventually made their permanent home.
Bob was an early adopter of computer technology, developing programs from the mid-1980s onward that he shared freely with fellow enthusiasts. He wrote several for his personal use, including programs to track golf statistics and manage personal finances. He was long known for his athleticism and was skilled at playing tennis, bowling, and golf—scoring not one but two holes-in-one—and teaching his grandchildren the finer points of the game while sneaking them on the course near his home after hours. He will be remembered fondly for his clever and trademark economy of words, whether leading a very well-edited annual family Passover seder, ordering drinks (“Bombay. Rocks. Twist.”), or programming his voicemail (“This is Bob. You know the drill.”)
Bob was predeceased by his parents, Daniel and Sylvia Kaye; younger sister, Nancy Tauber (Keith Tauber); and son Jonathan (Joyce Rutter Kaye). He is survived by his wife, Phyllis; sons Michael and Jeffrey (Traci Kaye); and four grandchildren: Daniel, Henry, Vivian, and Sascha Kaye.
Services will be held on Thursday, December 11, at 1:30 p.m., simultaneously at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel, Boynton Beach, FL, and at the Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn, NY. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to either the CJD Foundation or to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
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