Final Salute

Robert Haslam
Born: October 30, 1937 in Palatine, IL
Died: August 4, 2021 in Princeton, IL
Robert “Bob” Raymond Haslam, 83, of Princeton, passed away on August 4th in his home with his family at his side.
He was the son of Roger and Stella (Jurkowski) Haslam, born in Palatine on October 30, 1937.
Services will be held 3 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of the Fiocchi-Jensen Funeral Home, Princeton, with Rev. Scott Schmidt of St. Matthews Lutheran Church officiating. Interment will be private. His family will receive friends from 1 p.m. until the time of services Sunday in the funeral home.
Private online condolences may be left for Bob’s family at www.FiocchiFuneralHomes.com
He attended Austin High School in Chicago, Illinois. After high school, he enlisted in the Navy, and was a Seabee stationed in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and Midway Island. Upon fulfilling his service commitment, Bob returned to Chicago, met Marilyn Brandner and married at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Forest Park, Illinois on August 20th, 1960. They resided in Oak Park Illinois and restored the house they lived in.
Robert and Marilyn had a son, Shawn and daughter, Robin while living in Oak Park. He was a fleet mechanic at Northern Illinois Gas Company. In 1973, Robert and Marilyn moved to Princeton, Illinois to provide the small town life for their young family. Bob increased his mechanical knowledge and experience by working at the Princeton Electric Company as a mechanic on Cooper Bessemer generating systems, the same type of engines used in battleships and ocean liners. With the entrepreneur aspirations of owning his own business, he started Bob’s Auto Repair Shop, which he ran for a few years. An opportunity opened at the Jostens Princeton Plant, where Robert worked as a machine maintenance technician and machine fabricator for 22 years.
Robert was a member of Saint Matthews Lutheran Church in Princeton, a past member of the Princeton Lions Club, volunteered at the local pet shelter, Friends of Strays, the Closet (secondhand store to support local charities), Bureau County Fair volunteer throughout the years, and participated in two Habitat for Humanity home builds.
Robert, along with his wife, Marilyn, restored four homes together. He enjoyed building mechanical musical machines, such as player pianos, band organs and calliopes. His enjoyment in life was cutting the grass on his properties, restoring antiques, traveling the world to China, Alaska and Europe numerous times. Bob had an immense love for all dogs.
Robert is preceded in death by his parents Roger and Stella Haslam.
He leaves behind his wife Marilyn of 60-plus years; two sisters, Barbara Gilleran of Hoffman Estates and Patricia and her husband, James Valerio of Wilmette; a son, Shawn Haslam and his wife Pamela (Frazier) Haslam of Seatonville, Illinois; a daughter Robin Swift and her husband, Randall Swift of Princeton; three grandchildren, granddaughter Kayleen (Haslam) Loch and her husband Cody Loch of Seatonville, Illinois, granddaughter Captain Kelsey Haslam, United States Army of Clarksville, Tennessee and grandson Casey Swift of Brownsburg, Indiana; and a great-grandson, Lane Loch of Seatonville, Illinois.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to St. Matthews Lutheran Church, Princeton, for the Quilt Guild or Zion United Church of Christ, Peru.