A life well lived. Long time resident of Bethlehem's Historic District, Robert D. Romeril passed away at age 91 on January 19 at St. Luke’s Hospice House.
Born on Manhattan Island, NY, Bob was the second of three sons to Albert John Romeril, an immigrant from the Isle of Jersey, and Winifred Gosman DeBevoise Romeril, a direct descendant of Carel DeBevoise, the first schoolteacher on Long Is-land.
He grew up in Bellerose, NY, graduating from Floral Park-Bellerose School in 1943 and Sewanhaka High School in 1947. He spent summers in Cutchogue at the eastern end of Long Island with his brothers at his grandmother’s, swimming (occasionally out to Robin’s Island and back) and sailing.
When the WWII draft removed adult men from his community, Bob became a Scout Master at 15 years old and served scouting for the rest of his life at various troop and council levels in Maryland, Indiana and Pennsylvania. He was an Eagle Scout and twice recipient of the Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service.
In high school, he served in student government, was a member of the Honor Society and was President of the Delta Hi-Y chapter. During WWII he served as an Air Raid Warden runner. He was also President of the Floral Park Methodist Church Youth Fel-lowship.
In 1951, Bob earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University. During his college years, he played varsity soccer and lacrosse, was President of the Ameri-can Society of Mechanical Engineers Chapter, chaired the Student Chapel Committee and was Dorm Proctor. Summer employment included two years with Grumman Air-craft, the first working as a vacation replacement in the assembling team of the F-9 Panther Jet Fighter. The following year, assigned to the Engineering Department, he revised the information and drawings for all utility systems in preparation for contract-ing out the body of the Flying Boat, Albatross.
On July 9, 1951 he began his distinguished 41-year career with Bethlehem Steel, which included one patent. As a member of the '51 Loop Class, he spent eight weeks orienting in Bethlehem PA, rooming with J.G. Roberts. Assigned to the steel making facility in Sparrows Point, MD, plant-wide training continued until his assignment to the Plate Mill Department.
Training in the operations of the department followed with final assignment to work with Mechanical Maintenance on a number of production equipment enhancements. During this time, Bob fell in love with, and married Gwendolyn-Jane with whom he started a family, living in Baltimore and Fort Knox during his military service.
Bob was drafted into the U.S Army Nov 12, 1952, completing two years of active duty. After Basic Training at Fort Dix NJ, he was assigned to Army Field Forces Board No. 2 at Fort Knox. He received a citation for his service during the Korean War, where he designed and conducted experiments on metal fatigue in weapons and the impact of jet aircraft on ground combat forces. He served in the Army Reserves until 1961.
By 1955, Bob was the Field Foreman of the Construction Department, directing the complete modernization and replacement of every existing part of the Sparrows Point 160” plate mill, with the express instruction to not lose a single day of rolling mill pro-duction. He progressed from Mill Turn Foreman to Assistant to the Superintendent. By 1960, Bob was Assistant Superintendent of the Plate Mills.
After the completion of Walt Williams closely guarded secret study, which was the ba-sis for Bethlehem Steel’s selection of Northern Indiana over California as the site to build what would become the Burns Harbor facility, Bob began work with both Walt and Bill Ritterhoff to make this truly immense project, a reality. In 1963, he transferred to the Bethlehem, PA office to direct design, engineering and installation of the new 160” plate mill, the cornerstone of the envisioned 10 million ingot-ton, fully integrated steel making operation on the shore of Lake Michigan.
In 1964, Bob moved his growing family to Long Beach, Indiana for nearly a decade to support the birth of the new Burns Harbor plant, including directing the hiring, training and start-up operation of the 160” mill, which was the first production operation at the new plant (thanks to his visionary design the 160” plate mill still in full operation as of January of 2021). Notably, at the time of its inception, the Burns Harbor project was the largest private construction project in the world.
After serving as Superintendent of the new 160” plate mill, and then as Assistant to the General Manager, Bob returned to Bethlehem in 1972 to work on overall capital plan-ning and design of Burns Harbor, additionally designing its new 110” plate mill. Bob finished his career at Bethlehem Steel as the Manager for Technical Licensing for Bethlehem International Engineering Corporation, selling and licensing technology globally, retiring (very reluctantly) in May of 1992.
Bob is a Life Member of the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers and served on the Technical Rolling Mills Committee of the American Iron and Steel Institute.
At 90 years old, Bob returned to Burns Harbor in June 2019 as a special guest for the 55th anniversary of the rolling of the first steel plate and the 50th anniversary of on-site steel making. He organized a reunion so his surviving steel buddies could meet cur-rent management of what is now the ArcelorMittal Plant at Burns Harbor. Bob met for many hours over the course of a week with today’s engineers, foremen, chemists, and metallurgists for engaging discussions about the plant history and their future chal-lenges, plans and strategies He also met current steel workers who, to this day, benefit from his innovative designs of person-centered operational consoles, as well as safety measures, still in use today, which he instituted within days of his arrival in 1964.
Bob solved problems in a way that improved the human condition rather than slapping a band-aid on them. When he observed a spike in worker injuries and production-halting errors and mishaps after the installation of improved and refined controls in the Maryland plate mill, he went home from work for a few hours, and then voluntarily went in to observe the third shift in order to discover the cause. He found appallingly high illiteracy rates among the racially segregated third shift and took it upon himself to teach the African American steel workers to read, whereupon productivity exceeded previous levels, and accidents were virtually eliminated. For his efforts he was given the honorary title of “Number One Shear-man” by the workers- a title reserved for the senior most man on their third shift. He taught job skills to people in prison and was a founding member of Essex Community College, where those who had paid their debt to society could receive an education and thereby secure better jobs upon release.
In Indiana, Bob welcomed the first women steel workers to the Burns Harbor plant by painting every third bathroom door pink and outfitting the plant with smaller sized equipment where feasible. Bob and his wife were among the first parents to lobby the school board for new education techniques to benefit all dyslexic children, and not on-ly their child.
In Pennsylvania, he routinely hired clients of the Hogar Crea rehab program for handyman jobs, knowing that work and dignity are intimately linked. He asked every person “how are you?” and really listened to the answer no matter who it was.
He modeled how to be a good citizen: vote in every election, give generously to those in need, and “never read a book by it’s cover.”
Bob was an avid gardener known around town as the “Dahlia King.” He shared his passion for gardening with everyone, delivering his prolific output of beautiful flowers to nursing homes, medical offices, shut-ins, and neighbors for many decades. Even from his hospital bed at St. Luke’s, he signed-up a long list of Doctors, Nurses and staff to receive dahlia starts (tubers).
In retirement, Bob stayed active in the church and his community. He supported his wife Gwendolyn-Jane in her role as Episcopal priest at the Cathedral of the Nativity, Trinity Easton and St Andrew’s. He served on the Vestry and other committees at each of her appointed churches (especially Buildings and Grounds). He was President of the Greater Bethlehem Council of Churches and a tireless advocate of the annual Ad-vent Breakfast. Bob served as President of the Incorporated Trustees for the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem, was on the Audit Committee, and Secretary of the Commission on Ministry. He was a member of the Relational Sponsorship Committee of the Inter-faith Coalition on Poverty.
Bob was an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church, serving as a member (and eventually co-Chair and Chair) of the Building and Grounds committee. He used his woodworking and organizational skills to spur upgrades and major enhancements of the facility on Market Street, including designing and spearheading the fundraising for air-conditioning of the communal areas of the church, overseeing the construction of the Memorial Garden, and lobbying for ADA accessibility improvements to allow differ-ently abled and aging members of the congregation to enjoy equal access to the church.
Bob served on the Bethlehem Authority and was part of the board during the double dam replacement project and helped save millions of dollars in interest payments by introducing the concept of the “spending schedule” to the City’s municipal construction projects – which is simply borrowing money as it was needed for each stage of con-struction, instead of borrowing all of the funds at the start of the project and forcing all water customers to pay interest on tens of millions in idle funds. He was instrumental in the founding in 1999 of the Bethlehem Historical District Association, serving as Treasurer, Secretary and vice-President whenever needed. He enthusiastically partici-pated in fundraising (especially the House Tours) to support the Association and sub-sidize the planting of street trees wherever possible throughout the neighborhood. He served as the Chairperson for the Finance Committee of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation. He was also a member of the Bethlehem Christmas City Committee.
Bob served as a Judge of Elections for the 7th ward for 12 years.
Bob loved playing pinochle with family and his Thursday card game crew. He was a woodworker who often refinished classic pieces in need of care (occasionally creating reproductions) and crafted carpentry projects at home and in the community. He reno-vated a residence begun in 1809 in the Bethlehem Historic District and had it added to the register as a historic structure. He enjoyed reading, researching family genealogy, and studying history, especially the Civil War period. He was an avid sailor, completing the Power Squadron certification.
His life motto was to leave the world a better place than he found it. He succeeded.

Survivors:Bob Romeril is survived by his wife of 67 years, The Rev. Canon Gwendolyn-Jane (Heiter) Romeril, four sons, Robert D. Jr, George H., Andrew E., Martin A., and one daughter, Winifred E. He was the proud grandfather of five grandchildren, again four boys and a girl, and two great-grandsons. He is preceded in death by his parents, who also lived fully to an advanced age, and his two brothers Albert John “Jack” (1926-2014) and Stanley (1930-1973).

Services: Services will be at 1:30 P.M. in the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA 18015. Services will be live-streamed to this page by clicking on the WEBCASTING Button.

Cathedral regulations require masks and social distancing be followed due to COVID-19 concerns. Out of caution we ask that those with compromised immune systems, undergoing chemo therapy or are elderly please consider wearing a mask for your own safety. Cathedral capacity is limited to 125 people. We thank you for your understanding.

Contributions: Donations can be made in Bob’s name to the Romeril Campership Fund at Lehigh Val-ley Community Foundation: https://www.lehighvalleyfoundation.org/giving/existing-funds/robert-d-gwendolyn-jane-romeril-campership-fund or the Minsi Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America at www.minsitrails.org/give .