Memorial Service for Otto (Bob) Guttmann, February 1, 2011

Otto Jacob (Bob) Guttmann, October 27, 1921 - November 2, 2010

The Celebration of his life was held Tuesday, February 1, 2011

at the Interfaith Chapel of Leisure World, Silver Spring, Maryland

This is from the program:

Otto Jacob Guttmann, know by everyone as "Bob", was born in Hamburg, Germany, the youngest of three. He grew up in difficult times. After Kristallnacht, he escaped from Germany to England with the Kindertransport. In England, he was taken in by the Scanlon family, who supported his study of textiles in Solford. He eventually emigrated to Brazil to join his bother Fritz. There he began a career in textiles, first working in the mills, and later as a salesman of textile machinery. The work took him all over the world, including several years in Korea.

On his first trip to the USA in 1946, he decided that he would like to someday live in New England. In 1958 he moved to New York. In 1962 he met and married Inge Rosenburg. Their three children, Robert, Edward and Lilian, were raised mostly in New England. He loved his family dearly.

Bob had many business ventures over the years, mostly involving textiles in some way. In this retirement years he became extremely interested in the possibilities of alpaca fiber, and he visited every alpaca farm that crossed his path.

Bob loved music all his life. At different points in his life he played the violin, the accordion and the organ. He was always passionate about the pipe organ. In Brazil he would use his daily lunch hour to travel several miles to a church where he could practice. In his seventies he worked part-time at the Lewis & Hitchcock organ factory and served on the board of the Potomac Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

His pastimes, other than his music, included playing chess, bridge, vegetable gardening, stamp collecting, reading and spending time with his grandsons. More than anything else, Bob was a "people person". He never referred to acquaintances, only friends. And once you were his friend, you were his friend forever.

Carl Schwartz played during the service, which was led by Rabbi Gary Fink. Carl played the "Auf Meines Herzens Gründe" by Johann Christoph Bach, which Bob had played for us years ago in a Members in Recital program. He also played the Ernest Bloch Andante, from "Six Pieces for Organ". Besides having worked with Bob when he was on the board of the Potomac Chapter, AGO, Bob & Inge had been instrumental in arranging for Carl to present a recital on the E.M. Skinner organ for the 100th Anniversary of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, North Carolina, in November of 2007.

After comments from the Rabbi & family, the service ended with the "Little Prelude and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach, played by Gerald Piercey, who also had worked with Bob when he was employed by Lewis & Hitchcock.