The passing of Bob Porter......

[e61096]

Here is an email on the passing of Bob Porter I received this morning
from Larry Handy & Joe Pacz...this really sucks


Received sad news this morning on the sudden passing of Bob Porter of Collegeville, PA (formerly of Norristown) due to complications from the flu leading to heart failure. Bob was a very good friend and was well known and admired by many in the breweriana collectibles hobby. His passion for collecting Pennsylvania cans and Adam Scheidt Brewery breweriana made him a go-to authority on these items, and his skill at restoration of damaged antiques gave him well deserved repute in the hobby. Bob was a member of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America and the Eastern Coast Breweriana Association. He is survived by his wife Andrea. Information regarding arrangements will be forthcoming.

Larry Handy
Joe Paczkowski

He will be truly missed in this hobby

BR

[Can Dr.]

Heard the news yesterday. Loss of another friend, great advocate for our hobby, and just one hell of a nice guy. I know we expect to loose members as they get up there in age, but another one just over 50. Much more of this I will only be tipping an empty glass, or be very drunk. I will miss you Bob.

[CMD]

Can someone post a picture?

Dan

[TavernTreasures]

Goodbye Breweriana friend. You will be missed.

[Woody]

I was really looking forward to having a beer with Bob at Spring Thaw. What a class act he was! He will be terribly missed.

[worcesterbeer]

bob was a nice guy he will be missed

[potters66]

This is more sad news. Bob will be missed. It was always a good time to talk with him at fall fest. He had been coming to the show almost since its beginning.


Steve

[e61096]

Email Rec'd From Larry Handy:

Robert J. Porter, Jr. “Bob” of Collegeville, passed away suddenly on Monday, January 2, 2017. He was 51 years old. Born May 3, 1965 in Norristown, he was the son of Robert J. and Joan (nee Henderson) Porter, Sr. and the beloved husband of Andrea (nee King) Porter, with whom he shared 10 years of marriage. Bob was well known and respected in the Art and Antique Restoration community and worked in that field for many years. He was an expert in beer can and beer advertisements, specializing in Pennsylvania products. Bob enjoyed model trains, N-scale, and loved animals, especially the five cats he and his wife rescued. He was a kind soul, a good neighbor and friend and truly loved his wife Andrea. In addition to his wife and parents, Bob is survived by his step sister, Lynn Umble and her husband Daryl as well as many friends and colleagues.

Relatives and friends are invited to share in Bob’s Life Celebration Memorial service on Sunday January 8, at 3 PM at Boyd-Horrox-Givnish of East Norriton, 200 West Germantown Pike, 610-277-7000. Calling hours will be from 1 to 2:55 PM at the funeral home. Interment will be private at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s name can be made to Kitty Cottage Adoption Center 317 W. Johnson Highway, Norristown, PA 19401. To share your fondest memories of Bob visit www.lifecelebration.com
Published in The Times Herald on Jan. 4, 2017

[Randy Karasek]

Can someone post a picture?

This is all I could find from BMV search, from Merry Bocksters, 2005, October. I believe this is Bob on the far right. Fifty one years is way too young and condolences to family and friends.

Porter.png (115.08 KiB) Viewed 6498 times

[kruegerbock]

That is Bob on the right.

[menke]

Regretfully I won't be able to make the service on Sunday, but I wanted to add some words here to both those who knew Bob and those who didn't, as well.

I couldn't count Bob as close a friend as many did on this board and in the hobby, not to mention his family. But for a number of reasons, he was tops on the very short list of guys who I would seek out at every show to talk cans or hobby news. For almost a couple decades at the extravaganza that was Blue/Gray in Fredericksburg, we'd spend hours piecing together narratives and theories and stories about cans and breweries based on the little tidbits of information we'd picked up here and there. It was his wide-ranging curiosity, razor sharp memory, open-mindedness to any person or source, and the ability to tie all of it together that made him a true student and historian of the hobby and industry.

For new members or those here that don't go to shows and meet actual people, Bob was the one who synthesized the list of Canco date codes that allow us to put order to the mishmash of early cans, label changes, and postwar mayhem in the canning business. He was looking through old COLA's, the federal label approval forms required for every design change, for Neuweiler's I think. The forms were all dated of course, but he noticed patterns in the tiny marks on American Can flat tops that corresponded to those dates and he was able to piece together that list for nearly the first two decades of canning. That information had eluded the most thorough of collectors and aficianados of cans; Bob came up with it just as an aside to his research. I still have photocopies of his original list tucked into the cover of my OI book.

When I last saw him, about a month ago at Larry's show in Macungie, PA, we spoke briefly, about the huge musty volume he was carrying. It was an ancient brewery accountant's ledger, with all their expenses and income and line items. We'll never know what might have come from poring through all that. And it wasn't his first monster ledger, either. Who DOES that?

It's a little startling to imagine the knowledge and detail that has gone away with him. There is a gaping hole in the hobby.

I saw his collection once about eight years ago. Basement, floor to ceiling the length of a wall like many guys do. Except the collection was the beer can equivalent of that book they keep at the Mormon Temple, the one that lists all genealogy since Day 1. Bob collected all things Scheidt, and included every brand that bought them or was bought by them, sorted that way, chronologically, without any bias toward sexy cans. The eye for detail is ridiculous; the organization scheme itself holding more information than most collector's entire heads. Around the room was framed stuff, cased stuff, other breweriana that formed his own museum.

Around that time, beercanman and I had picked up a can company employee collection that had a lot of interesting stuff. Bob picked through all of it, and I may have laughed out loud at him for taking a box of mostly crimped steel. Then he walked me through what each can was; transitional labels, can company marks, vanity lids, minute differences I'd never have known unless I'd looked at a thousand of them or been looking for just that thing for a decade. I shut the heck up because I'd filled a few key holes in a collection so thorough it was mind-boggling.

It's no stretch to say Bob was a can collector's can collector. Helpful to all ends, always on the prowl, thorough, patient, thoughtful, the list goes on. The challenge for the rest of us is to try to fill that hole, minus one friend, and honor his love and interest in our quirky little hobby. And maybe a little bit in the rest of our lives, too.

[Barry Travis]

Matt, those words coming from you means everything. I had heard his name in passing more times than I could count. Especially when it came to repairing or fixing Signs. Contact Bob Porter. No words… Just sincere condolences. Thanks for posting that.
Barry

[thatsus02]

it is a great tribute to all that browse this site and share the memories and true life stories about those both living and passed which gives those who did not know these people the opportunity to have some genuine feelings for them. I did not know Bob but I am sure he touched many collectors and non collectors alike in his lifes work. I wish his family and friends the best and am glad to have had the opportunity to get to know him thru this thread and site.

[e61096]

Well Said Matt!!!
That's a HUGE GAPING HOLE in our Hobby

BR

[kruegerbock]

To tie this back to the Select 50 thread on this site - A few years ago Bob Porter decided to sell all of his non-PA tabs. He brought the high end stuff to shows, and I got a few from him including the Standard Beer from Cleveland. The bulk of his tabs were still on shelves at his parents house. Farmer was able to go through them before me, and there may have been others. In any event, I am fairly certain that Farmer got his Select 50 from Bob.

I consider myself to be pretty strong in the tabs nobody cares about like this one. I do not have it. I did, however, make my way over to Bob's parents house with him after a show. With Bob's help, I spent hours comparing the cans remaining on the shelves with my excel spreadsheet, my pictures, and my books. I ended up purchasing about 100 cans, and only a couple of them were duplicates of cans that I already had. Even these were due to sloppy documentation on my part, as opposed to Bob being incorrect about the variation.

Bob basically had an eidetic memory when it came to beer cans, even cans like these. He would sometimes look at my trader totes and tell me about a variation that I needed to look for. The one I remember most was an aluminum Milwaukee Brand can from Hammonton. He told me that one version lacks the word brand, while the other has it. Wouldn't you know that the can in my totes ended up in my collection when I got home.

A lot of people know Bob for his incredible talents cleaning and restoring breweriana, but the hobby lost an incredibly passionate collector with a knowledge of beer cans that cannot be replaced. Truly a sad day.

[jeanmariemcp]

I am a personal friend of Bob and Andrea Porter. Would you mind if I shared all of your kind words with her? I think she'd like to see how much he was respected and how well he will be remembered.

[keithker]

Jean please do....

[John H.]

Bob was one of the kindest people in our group that I was privileged to meet. He restored several trays of mine and I enjoyed talking with him at Blue/Gray for those years I attended. You'll be sorely missed Bob, but we know that God needed you more. Thanks for everything.

John Hamel

[Pacman]

Been having a hard time coming to grips with the passing of my good friend and long-time roommate Bob Porter. Finally thought I might share some reflections. First met Bob at the Kimberton, PA semi-annual shows sponsored by Larry Handy back in the ‘90s. Bob would be at the sales table associated with Fink’s Auctions. Working for Don, He handled the transactions for merchandise won by the respective bidders who picked up the items there. Struck up many conversations there discussing beer cans. Bob had a tremendous amount of knowledge of cans, their history, etc. Our conversations there led to us teaming up to attend the annual Blue Gray show together in Fredericksburg. Guessing we started around 2000 and continued through last year. At first Bob was just another collector searching for items to add to his collection. Later on as knowledge of Bob’s flair with restoration of breweriana spread, many hours were consumed with him taking in items that needed anything from minor repairs to major restorations. I was so impressed how he treated each customer with honesty and respect. Many of the consignments at Blue Gray were “have it back to you here next year”. Our room became a temporary warehouse. First, with all the work brought back for delivery, followed by all the new consignments to go back to the shop. Each passing year I was treated to the reactions of those picking up their items. To see how so many were thrilled with the quality of work in the restoration effort. Bob had a keen eye plus a great memory. He could find variations of cans for my collection that I did not know existed. We also roomed together at the Spring Thaw show in the Harrisburg, PA area with the same experiences.

Over the years, I learned so much about cans and breweriana from chatting with Bob. One evening after dinner Bob called me asking a favor. Could I go downstairs and pull off shelves cans that one could date due to something on the can. Upon completing the task, he proceeded in telling me the American Can Co. date mark on each can. He hit ‘em all 100%. Thus, the validation of his deciphering of American’s date markings on their cans from 1935-1953.

My heart is heavy from the loss of my good friend, expressions of deepest sympathy go out to his wife, Andrea and the Porter family. You left us too soon. Rest in peace my good friend.

Joe Pac

[Can Dr.]

I love reading these continuing post of respect for Bob, especially yours Matt, well written as usual. Again I knew he was a good fella, and always enjoyed his conversation, passion, and knowledge. However, as humble as he was I forgot he was the master who cracked American's dating codes. This I think is one of the greatest achievement in our hobby, a reference I hold at my fingertips, and is always on my desk, and almost fully in memory.
For this task alone, but not shy of his other cotributions to our hobby, I think a nomination to the BCCA hall of fame will be fitting. Although shy of having our friend back, I think we should honor him with a nomination.

[menke]

Thanks Keith- I second your nomination.

Joe, I had no idea you guys had known each other only that long. You two joked and hung out like you'd been buddies since the 70's.

It makes me think about the couple research projects on my back burner, what with the renovation and baby. I have to finish them for sure.

[keithker]

Please keep the BCCA HOF nomination in mind when the RB Chapter puts out the call this Spring.

[keithker]

Keith and Matt,

The BCCA HoF nomination letters came out. Sadly Bob Porter can not be nominated. The letter states:

"Please note that past Collectors of the Year and Hall of Fame winners, as well as former or deceased members of the club, are not eligible."

There are many that are deserving and sadly many of those have gone before us. Bob's name and photo along with others that have since passed on will be mentioned in the video portrayed at the upcoming Canvention in Cleveland. You are welcome to speak kind words of Bob at the RB meeting that will be held at Spring Thaw on Friday at 6pm on 7 April.

[RustyGoats]

WOW, I check in once in a while to see whats new, and i cant believe what im hearing. Bob and Ron WOW. Bob was one of them guys who respected everyone in our hobby and always treated people the way you would want to be treated yourself. Always upstanding, willing to answer any questions and teach you something new each time. Like Joe P. Bob taught me alot about variations and what sleeper cans to look for, and i learned and mastered the term of TURNING CANS from Bob. He'd always find me that tough Reading variation i needed or teach me of a new one. Not only has our hobby lost 2 good guys, I know he loved Andrea very very much, and when he wasnt talking beer cans with someone at the show he was on the phone with Andrea. I also feel for you Joe and I feel your loss, I know you 2 were very close and had one of the greatest chemistries over the years, hang in there.

As far as Ron, I didnt hear about that either. Ron was always one of them guys that was always respectful, loved to crack a joke or 2 to make you laugh, always serious but with a smile. When I went up to Mass to visit the guys, he opened up his house to me to show me his harvard collection, and all he has collected over the years, and i had a great time. Another great respectful loss.

2 HIGHLY LOVED AND RESPECTED GENTLEMAN IN THIS HOBBY, TAKEN FROM US AT TOO YOUNG OF AGES, WITH PLENTY OF COLLECTING TIME AND JOY AND LOVE FOR OUR HOBBY LEFT TO SHARE TO ALL. 2 GREAT GUYS I WILL MISS YOU BOTH THIS YEAR, AND EACH YEAR. UNREAL !!!