Robert R. Linsenmayer

Robert Ray Linsenmayer, born in 1931 in Los Angeles, California, passed away peacefully on September 17, 2026 in Madison, Wisconsin, soon after his 95th birthday.

Bob was a good soul, committed to sharing his music with his family and community. His life was full of adventure. Raised in Southern California, Bob attended Occidental College, spent his summers working and hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains, served in Germany as a Russian language translator for the army, and made a go at professional folk singing and comedy in the early ‘60s. He then gave it all up to drive around the country looking for a job. He ended up in Chicago where he met his wife Sheryl (who passed away 2011 after nearly 45 years of marriage), earned his M.B.A., and worked in international automotive part sales until his retirement in 1996. During his 30-year career in the industry, Bob traveled to over 70 countries. A committed runner, Bob loved to explore foreign cities by taking long, early morning runs before his workday began. In retirement, he and Sheryl moved to McCormick, South Carolina where he gained renown as “Mr. Bob,” performing folk songs and stories for children in elementary schools and libraries across the area. He is survived by his daughter Robin, son Mark, daughter-in-law Kim, son-in-law Dan, four grandchildren (Abe, Mina, Izzy, and Allie), and cats Dewey and Truman, as well as his second wife, Mary Anne. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Humane Society of McCormick County (https://www.hsmcsc.org/) or the Unitarian Universalist Church of Augusta, Georgia (https://www.uuaugusta.org/). Bob was a kind, compassionate man. 

He was loved and will be missed.