Robert John Dreier

Robert “Bob” Dreier made his last and final trip on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 when he left his earthly home to be with his Lord. Bob was born on April 2, 1935 to Leroy and Margaret Beckley Dreier. Bob was a lifetime member of St. Paul’s UCC at 12th Ave. & W. Michigan Street where he worked closely with the Trustees from the time he was in his late teens until the Church building was sold. He installed the first PA system while his girlfriend Erlene Bumb held the flashlight. They spent many dates working on projects at St Paul’s! During the next 68 years, he changed all door locks and made new keys each year for all Council members, custodians and clergy. He also serviced the Church’s Wicks pipe organ for the last 10 years of its existence. If anything needed fixing at St Paul’s, Bob would get the call! He served on the Church Council no less than 6 times. St. Paul’s was his home-away-from home for the rest of his life. Bob’s first job was a paper route on the Mesker Park/Mt. Auburn route, getting up early before school to deliver the morning newspaper. During high school at Reitz High School (1953 graduate & president of his freshman class) he worked at Reitz Drug Store on the corner of 12th Ave. and Franklin Street. He was active in the Boy Scouts and attended a National Jamboree at Valley Forge, PA. There, he was a reporter for WGBF. Very early in life, he became interested in tinkering and electronics. Television was very new and he was intrigued by it, so he thought he would try his hand at figuring out how it all worked! So he took a job at Stephan & Tuley TV while still in high school. After high school, he entered IU at Bloomington in the pre-med school per his parents’ wishes. After that first year, his interest in becoming a member of the medical profession was not in his mind. He enrolled in Evansville College in 1955. In 1956, he married Erlene and the two of them raised two daughters. In 1957, he enlisted in the US Army reserves for 6 years. He worked for several Television repair shops, and then helped get channel 7 on the air. Later he worked at the Alcoa plant which was being built, installing PA systems for the upcoming potlines. He then skipped over to Tri-State Communications and later bought his working tools from them so that in 1967, he formed Diversified Electronics with 2 friends. Then in 1971 he began a new company – Electro-Lab Services, Inc. with Erlene and his father from which he retired after 49 years in business. He installed the first Cardiac monitoring systems in all of the Tri-State hospitals (about 10 in all). He also maintained the maneuvering systems on the barge that plied the Ohio River. He performed calibration of manufacturing equipment at GE, Louisville, Maytag at Fayetteville, TN, Amana Ref. at Amana, Iowa, as well as many other cities in the Midwest. Many of his peers in industry have told Erlene that Bob was the ‘smartest’ man they knew, as far as fixing anything. Bob served on the Vanderburgh 4-H Center board as president for one term while at the same time, helped with the electrical and sound systems. He was a former member of the West Side Optimist Club, serving as secretary, vice-president and president. He was a former member of the Tri-State Food Pantry. He and Erlene helped build their new home in 1958/59, and in the late 90’s they helped add a large addition to their house, with Bob doing all of the electrical wiring and inside finishing. The travel bug hit in 1981 when they were sent on a Caribbean cruise by Bob’s Mother, followed by 7 other like cruises. Beginning in 1984, they began the travels to foreign destinations going to 36 different countries and 6 of the 7 continents. Also covering most of the 50 states – favorites were Germany – 37 times, Israel, Africa – 2 times, and Alaska – 20 times. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Brother-in-law Bob Hubbard and his special 4-legged companions, Hannah, Sandy & Daisy. He is survived by his wife Erlene (Bumb) Dreier, daughters, Linda (Bob) Koch of Evansville, Kathy Dreier of Ft. Worth Texas, sister, Karen Hubbard of Lexington, KY. Granddaughters, Amanda (Shad) McDurmon , Rockport & Andrea(DJ) MacLeod of Evansville, and Great Grandsons, Tristan & Finn McDurmon of Rockport, and cousins, nieces & nephews and many friends. A Celebration of Bob’s Life will be held on Monday, September12, 2022 at Zion UCC, 415 NW 5th Street at 11:00 AM with Pastor JD Rose officiating. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be on Sunday, September 11, 2022 from 4:00 until 7:00 PM at Pierre Funeral Home, and again at 10:00 AM until service time on Monday at Zion Church. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul’s UCC, PO Box 6287, Evansville IN 47719 or to the Alzheimer’s Assn.

Robert John Dreier

April 2, 1935 - September 6, 2022