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Carl Hieber ’63 was a close friend and
colleague of Shangraw’s. They worked
together at Merrill Lynch for 35 years.
“He was a great role model for his work
ethic, and maybe the hardest worker
I ever knew. At Bob’s funeral, I was
astounded when people started talking,
one after the other, about things he had
done for them and their causes. As close
as I was to him, I never had any idea
about many of the things he had done.”
Lycoming College, though, was
Shangraw’s passion, and he worked
tirelessly in myriad ways to make
it a better institution. “The kind of
relationship I had with Bob was that he
was more of a consigliere, since he had
officially retired from the board, and we
did conspire a few times,” said Trachte.
“He was a man who had at least five ideas
of how the College could be made better
every day of his life. It’s hard to choose
just one, but with student debt a rising
issue, Bob reached out to me and said
that we needed to do something about it.
We came up with the idea of the Trustee
Retention and Debt Reduction Fund,
which allows us to identify students
who are at the higher level of debt and
give them some relief from that with
additional scholarship money. That
really exemplifies how much Bob cared
for the students at Lycoming. With every
idea he had their best interests in mind.”
D. Stephen Martz ’64 recalls working
with Shangraw on the board of trustees.
“One of the important things to know
about Bob was that, besides vision
and philanthropy, he served as
a mentor in his leadership role
at the college to other trustees,
administration and faculty. He
actively led things that he wanted
to see happen. He didn’t just talk
about it and hand it off; he really
got involved and followed through.”
“My father had a big heart and
was a great man,” said Nancy
DeSanto ’93, who attended
Lycoming along with her three
siblings. “Our family has wonderful
friends and memories purely because
of my father having so much success
— and fun — working with the great
people at Lycoming.”
Shangraw was deeply devoted to his
family. He had four children with his
first wife, Mary, who died of cancer in
1988 leaving him a single father. Two
years later Shangraw met Charlene,
who was working at a local club. “He
was always a gentleman, and a very, very
nice person. She confessed, “The first
time he asked me out it went right over
my head! He asked me what night I was
off, and I said I didn’t have any nights off.
But he didn’t give up and asked me again
the next week. We went out to dinner and
began a wonderful relationship that lasted
25 years.” The couple married in 1992.
“He was bigger than life. He had a real
presence. When Bob walked into a room
you knew he was there.”
Together, Bob and Charlene endured two
tragedies: the deaths of Bob’s son, Doug,
in 2008, and of Charlene’s son, Alan, soon
after that. “It was of course difficult,” said
Charlene, “but Bob worked very hard with
both Doug’s wife and Alan’s wife. He always
took good care of them.”
Charlene said Bob once told her that the
impetus for his life’s work as a philanthropist
came from a significant brush with mortality
in 1979: “He made a commitment that if he
lived through the surgery he would spend
half his time and give half of what he had to
charities. He made it through, and kept that
promise going right until the end.”
“Bob always felt he got more back than he
gave. Every chance he got he told people that,
and he really meant it,” said Sides. “We will
never replace him.”
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Contributed by Patrick Marty
GIRARDI REMEMBERS
SHANGRAW’S ASSISTANCE
Frank Girardi is quick to point out
that much of the recognition that has
come his way since he was selected
for induction into the College Football
Hall of Fame in January is due to the
care and hard work of many people.
He talks of the program as a family,
from the players to the assistant
coaches to the fans and supporters.
It was the support system that
made being a Warrior different, and
during the program’s rise on the
national radar in the 1990s, one of
those biggest pillars of support
was the college’s chair of the
board of trustees, Bob Shangraw.
“When I think of Bob, the
first two things to come to
mind are his generosity and
how he really was involved and
extremely interested in Lycoming
athletics,” Girardi said. “There’s
no question in my mind that he
was the driving force behind the
building of the new stadium.
He had a vision and he kept
after it.”
Opened in 1998, the
Shangraw Athletic Complex
was a substantial upgrade
for all of Lycoming’s athletic
teams, providing a significant
increase in locker room space
for all of the outdoor teams,
an updated press box and
handicapped access. It was
a $1.5 million project that
came as a labor of love for
Shangraw, whose interest
in the Warriors was well
known.
“He’d be up at practice
quite a bit,” Girardi said.
“You could just see the
pride he had when he
walked through the locker
room or coaches’ room.
It was sincere.”
Left to right: Daniel G. Fultz ’57 ’01H looks
on while Douthat presents Shangraw with an
honorary doctor of laws degree in 2004.
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www.lycoming.eduF E AT U R E