Robert “Bob” Neuhauser

Neuhauser—Robert “Bob” Neuhauser, 97, on May 5, 2025, peacefully, at home in Fertility, Pa. Bob was born on August 19, 1927, to Homer and Miriam Neuhauser near Lancaster, Pa. His parents were from Anabaptist Pennsylvania Dutch families. Bob became an admirer of Quakers and occasionally attended meetings for worship.

Bob graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1948. He met Virginia (Ginny) Steward while in Philadelphia. They married in 1949 and were active in Quaker weekend workcamps.

Bob worked for the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) until his retirement in 1984. Bob was one of the developers of a tube that made color television possible. In 1964, he was awarded the David Sarnoff Gold Medal honoring achievements in technical aspects of television.

Bob’s involvement in peace and social concerns began in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. When the Vietnam War broke out, Bob served as a draft counselor and attended many demonstrations.

Bob’s pacifist views led to conflicts with RCA’s management. In 1971, he was invited by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to participate in the Paris Peace Conference. Management required Bob to sign an oath of silence about his work at RCA. Bob declined to sign, stating that Quakers do not take oaths. Management relented and gave Bob permission to make the trip.

Bob and his family became members of Lancaster (Pa.) Meeting in 1961. As clerk of the Building Committee in 1966, Bob had a significant voice in expanding the meetinghouse, and he was a constant presence at First-day school activities.

Bob was sent by Lancaster Meeting as a delegate to the local chapter of the Overground Railroad and was elected chairman. This group arranged transportation for 150 refugees from Lancaster to sanctuary in Canada.

A survey of racial discrimination in Lancaster led Bob to focus on integrating public swimming pools. He was also involved in securing fair housing. Bob and Lancaster Meeting volunteers invested money to form a corporation that bought and rented three apartment buildings. Bob and others also embarked on a bail bond project in 1976. He arranged for two meeting properties to be used as collateral for bail bonds.

Bob did not retire from public life when he retired from RCA. He expanded his roles with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and in 1998, served on the Executive Committee of AFSC Mid-Atlantic Region. He focused on contact with legislators about mass incarceration and his commitment to worldwide microfinance initiatives. In 1998, Bob and Ginny’s generous donation created Lancaster Meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns Fund, which to this day invests funds in a socially responsible manner.

Ginny died in 1998. Bob married Dorothy Killebrew in 2001.

Bob wrote an article for Friends Journal describing his experience disarming a man who was threatening a woman and her small child in a domestic dispute. Guided by Quaker principles, Bob spoke to the man. The perpetrator quietly put his shotgun shells in his pocket, got in his van, and drove away.

Bob’s 2004 book, The Cosmic Deity, outlined his spiritual approach arising from Quaker tradition. His most beloved writings were ten years of letters written to his grandchildren chronicling his experiences growing up in Lancaster during the Depression. In 2020, his children compiled the letters into a book, The Grandpa Bob Stories.

Bob was predeceased by his first wife, Ginny Steward; his brother, Jim; and his sister, Susan Ann.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Killebrew; four children, Cathy, Carla, Judy, and Douglas; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.