Longtime Lakeside resident Robert Hartman (“Uncle Bob”) died on May 20 in Pennsylvania. He was 91.
Born March 1, 1922 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Hartman served his country in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 as a telegraph operator in the South Pacific.
He graduated from high school and attended banking seminars through his job at Union National Bank in Pittsburgh. He became the vice president of accounting for that bank and went on to become a bank examiner.
Hartman moved to Mexico in 1988 from Kingman, Arizona. He had visited Ajijic (for a week) at that time, staying at the La Floresta Hotel. He returned to Arizona the new owner of a home in Villa Nova, so he packed up and returned to Lakeside.
Hartman loved gardening and had a “green thumb” that was the envy of the neighborhood. He also loved to cook and entertain, taking food to all of the neighbors. He had a passion for latch-hook art and had it hanging all over his house.
He is survived by his many friends, both in Mexico and in the United States.
In 2011 his close friends encouraged him to move back to Pittsburgh, where his health could be monitored more closely.