ROBERT'S OBITUARY

Barre, Vt.​​

Robert Potrzeba: February 11, 1954-March 13, 2025

In addition to being a parent and grandparent himself, for the last 28 yrs Bob Potrzeba has provided a loving, structured and stable home  to mostly teen boys as a Therapeutic Foster parent.  

 

Bob's stamina for this work was incredible as he consistently provided care to multiple youth at a time. He has set the bar incredibly high and few have or ever will surpass his level of dedication to the most at-risk youth in our community. 

 

He fostered right up until his brief illness,  which took him far too soon, even at 71 he was so energetic. It took him from all the young people who looked to him for lifelong guidance and mentoring. The loss will be felt for decades, as these youth will now have to navigate young adulthood without Bob's soft and steady shoulders to land on, without his ongoing words of encouragement as well as his firm guidance. 

 

We can only hope that the young people he has touched, if they are reading this, and they are struggling, that they know they can connect to Amy's Armoire and we will do our best to connect them to community mentors to build their supports, to help fill in-part of the void Bob left. 

 

His impact was extensive and the loss to this community, from the amazing work he did,  whether you knew him or not, is profound.  You all have gained something from Bob;

 

You all will experience the impact of his work in the multiple youth over the years who have avoided criminal charges because of his interventions or maybe in the new dads who broke the cycle of abuse/neglect. 

 

You will feel it in the youth who will be more patient and loving when they date your sons/daughters because he helped them heal so they no longer love with the fear of abandonment and jealousy, but with trust, patience and respect. 

 

You will see it in the young checkout clerks, mechanics, etc. who became productive members in your community as a result of his role modeling and encouragement. 

 

You may hear about it in the achievements of the young foster youth who will graduate from college as the first in their family to do so, or those who graduated from high school and entered the military, when they would've otherwise dropped out, in part because Bob believed in them and helped keep them on course even when they derailed in huge ways, because he believed in second chances. 

 

And you will hopefully all help cheer especially loud for each and every achievement a young person makes who comes from hard places, because they need it more than most.  

 

Hopefully, we will all carry a piece of Bob with us from here on out, so we can see behaviors as an expression of pain or joy.  Let's choose patience when you see someone in our community struggle with things like crime, addiction, mental health or poverty. And maybe because Bob is no longer here to call or fall back on, we can all step it up a bit in his name and have more empathy.  If so, Bobs legacy will carry on even stronger in the young people he helped, who are prevalent in our community. Let's all make the difference for a young person who may just need you to do so, so they can carry on another day and learn to believe in themselves and that when they feel like they are in a dark forest, let's help Bob's light continue to shine on them and help them find their way.

The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Amy’s Armoire, P.O. Box 869, Barre, VT 05641 or click the "Donate in Memory" button below.

Read his full obituary on Legacy.com

 

​

​