Robert Anthony Iadicicco died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, on Sunday, Feb. 18, nine days short of his 88th birthday.

He was born to Anthony B. Iadicicco and Anna Cascarino of Philadelphia, Pa. He lost his mother at the tender age of one year old. He was raised and loved by his stepmother, Vesta Deloreto Iadicicco.

Bob was born with an innate sense of curiosity about how things worked. He was once found, at the young age of two years old, disassembling his father’s pocket watch to try and see what made it tick. This curiosity served him well at school. His teacher found the need for him to be challenged in his learning and recommended that he skip third grade and move up to the fourth. After his high school graduation, Bob accepted a job with the Philadelphia Bulletin and became a local branch manager.

Upon his 21st birthday he enlisted in the Air Force (Staff Sergeant), where he was intrigued to learn about, and eventually specialized in, the science of radar. After his initial training he was stationed at Otis Air Force base in Buzzards Bay. While working at Otis he was given the opportunity to be transferred to the mysterious island of Martha’s Vineyard. He became one of a small group of men who along with MIT engineers set up a radar installation on Peaked Hill in Chilmark. Eventually Bob and his co-workers started to assimilate into Island life. It was then that he met the love of his life, Connie Frank of Vineyard Haven. The two married in 1957 and moved to Bob’s hometown, Philadelphia, where he had been enrolled in the electrical engineering program at Drexel University. He graduated from Drexel in 1961 with a master’s degree.

After graduation he had a successful career at Philco Ford, where he secured two patents for graded field cathode ray tubes. He then went on to work at Ford in the computer programming department of their aerospace division. He ended his work career with for two large law firms in center city Philadelphia as head of their IT departments.

He was civic minded and volunteered for many years with such organizations as the East Mt. Airy Neighbors Association, Weaver’s Way Co-operative, SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives), the Oak Bluffs Senior Center, and the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission.

He was an avid cribbage and bridge player, but mostly Bob loved his family, his Philadelphia sports teams, and his second home of Martha’s Vineyard, where he and his family would vacation every summer until he and Connie made the permanent move and retired there in 1999.

He was predeceased by his brother Anthony. He leaves behind his wife, Connie; their children, Jeffrey and Terry; his daughter in law, Chrissy Iadicicco; his son in law, Timothy Lowe; and his beloved grandchildren, Jacqueline, Robert and Josie Iadicicco. He also leaves behind his sister Dolores and his brother Nicholas Iadicicco.

A memorial service will be held in Oak Bluffs in July 2018.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, hospiceofmv.org/donations