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Robert (Bob) Malesardi, ’45, P’75 ’79 ’87, GP’08

The Bucknell University community mourns the passing of emeritus trustee and loyal Bucknellian Robert (Bob) Malesardi, ’45, P’75 ’79 ’87, GP’08, on Jan. 16, 2021.

Bob Malesardi majored in accounting at Bucknell and was a member of the wrestling team, the Navy V-12 program and Sigma Chi. Prior to his retirement, the World War II veteran spent many years operating an accounting firm and developing real estate. He co-owned the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Malesardi served as an active trustee from 1972 through 1988 and was a generous donor whose gifts to the University supported scholarships and the Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library. To commemorate those gifts, the University in 1988 named one of the Gateway Residence Center buildings Malesardi Hall.

In 2016, 75 years after his graduation from Bucknell, Bob was elected as a trustee emeritus. That same year, he and his wife Doris made a generous pledge to support financial aid endowment — then the single-largest pledge in University history. To commemorate this commitment and its extraordinary gift-matching program, the University named the Malesardi Quadrangle in the family’s honor.

Many who have attended Commencement ceremonies on the Malesardi Quadrangle in the past four years will remember Bob and Doris seated in the front row, beaming with pride as another class of Bucknellians earned their degrees.

The family has shared the recent announcement, and we will share the full obituary when it is available.

The family of Robert E. Malesardi announces his recent passing. Bob was at his beloved waterfront home in Oxford, a scenic byway in the Chesapeake region on the Eastern shore of Maryland. Bob was in his 97th year, having been born on October 5, 1924, to Harold and Natalie Hoer Malesardi. We are grateful his life’s journey was completed gently, in peace and with grace. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Talbot Hospice, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD, 21601, who helped guide his journey. A full obituary about his extraordinary life will be published at a later date.

Members of the University community are encouraged to visit our In Memoriam site at bucknell.edu/InMemoriam and share personal notes of sympathy and remembrance with others.

On behalf of the entire Bucknell community, I extend our deepest sympathies to the Malesardi family and our enduring appreciation of all that Bob and his beloved wife Doris have meant to our University.

John C. Bravman
President

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