PWQA veteran Denne mourned

Robert ‘Bob’ Denne passed away peacefully at home on September 10, after an eight-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis. He was born in Buffalo, NY in 1940 and moved to California in 1950, when his intrepid mother packed an ailing husband and four kids into a 28-foot trailer for the trip. Denne graduated from Verdugo Hills High School, then was drafted into the US Army in 1963, where he served as a draftsman and surveyor while in Vietnam. When he returned to California, he bought a small water softening business in Glendale. Over the years, Denne honed his skills and eventually became the corporate president of Rayne Water Conditioning, before retiring in 2008. He maintained a small consulting business and was quite comfortable taking orders and troubleshooting problems with the phone in his pocket from just about anywhere in the world. Denne and Laura, his wife of 48 years, loved to travel and enjoyed it even more in retirement. He is survived by Laura; their children Benjamin (Beth) and granddaughter Katie; Jonathan (Veronica) and Timothy, as well as the Beattie family (Leslie, Donny, and granddaughters Meka, Jolee, and Elvia) of Topsham, ME. Denne will be missed by his sister MaryLou Schneider, brothers Donald and Willard, as well as many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name at the Ojai Education Foundation website, www.ojaied.org.