His full name was Robert Gottschalk. “But everyone knew him as Bob,” says his wife, Judi. Though Bob fell prey to lymphocytic leukemia in 2011, Judi is determined to keep his legacy alive for the future of kids in the Arizona Jewish community.
Judi and her family have pledged an impressive gift of $150,000 to the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center to build the Bob Gottschalk Youth and Camping Wing. The wing will provide a safe and inclusive environment for young people and will encourage new Jewish leadership and enhance Jewish connections for children all across the Valley.
The official opening party, a private celebration, for the Bob Gottschalk Youth and Camping Wing is Dec. 3. But the wing has been in use since the beginning of the school year with more than 120 children passing through the doors of the youth wing each week. From summer camps to after school programs, school’s out days and holiday camps, kids night out and teen programs, the new youth wing expects to be buzzing with activity for many years to come.
“Bob grew up in San Diego,” Judi shares. “He had three brothers and one sister, and they were all big fans of the JCC.” They all attended afterschool programs at the JCC and were very committed to being a part of the JCC and the Jewish community. “Bob was a gym rat,” she says with a laugh. “He loved the gym. He loved playing basketball and hanging out at the JCC.” Bob’s deepest friendships began at the JCC, and that’s why Judi and the Gottschalk family are thrilled to announce the opening of the Youth and Camping Wing at the VOSJCC this month.
Bob was a camp counselor at the San Diego JCC and spent much of his spare time at the JCC, working out, playing basketball and coaching youth leagues. He got a degree in physical education at San Diego State and had aspirations to work with a JCC after college. At a post-graduation conference, he saw JCC job postings in Phoenix and New Orleans. “He told me to pick which city I wanted to go to,” Judi says. Her response at the time was, “I don’t even know where either of those two cities are.” Still she chose Phoenix.
After coming to Arizona, having three sons, raising a family and developing a strong bond with the Jewish community, Judi is cementing her Arizona connection and celebrating Bob with this generous endowment.
Bob worked as an assistant physical education director at the JCC. He went on to be the PE director and then became the assistant executive director. After eight years of JCC service, Bob attended Hebrew Union College with the hope of becoming a JCC executive director. But after some soul searching, Bob decided he didn’t want to leave Phoenix and was ready to embark on a more entrepreneurial path. Though his career took him in a different direction, Bob’s commitment to the JCC never waned. He served on the board of the JCC and as the president. “He loved to stick his nose into everyone’s business,” Judi jokingly recounts. “He couldn’t stay away. He couldn’t quit them, and they couldn’t get rid of him.” Whether he was counseling, coaching or acting as a trusted advisor, Bob believed in the JCC and its important and inclusive mission.
Bob’s business career led him to the dry-cleaning business and then into the pharmaceutical industry. In 1999 he joined Health Care Dimensions, where he developed and marketed Silver Sneakers, a physical activity and socialization program for older adults, which, as the company’s chief sales executive, Bob helped build into a national brand.
He retired in 2009 to focus on his health. “But he never stopped working,” Judi says. “He wanted something to get up for every day.” Bob launched Renewal Technologies in the midst of his serious health issues to bring to market the Laser Touch One, an FDA-approved pain relief device available to consumers without a prescription. Bob saw the Laser Touch One as an opportunity to connect millions of pain sufferers with a proven pain relief solution to help them regain active, healthy lifestyles and vastly improve their quality of life. Like his work and commitment to the JCC, Bob’s passion to improve lives was exhibited in everything he did. Whether in business, child rearing or as a leader in the community, Bob was committed to improving lives through hard work, physical activity and community connection.
But it was Bob’s passion for the JCC that led Judi and her family to step in as the VOSJCC’s Youth and Camping Department was outgrowing its current space.
“Bob believed that the JCC is a core component of a Jewish community,” says Judi. “No matter where you are on the continuum of Jewish belief, you can come to the center.”
This sense of belonging to a community is of the utmost importance to the Gottschalk family, which is why they have created a space at the JCC to ensure the same opportunity for future Jewish children to connect to Jewish neighbors, friends and their community at large.
“I believe it’s the obligation of the community to support this welcome haven,” says Judi. “It’s your home, even if you don’t need it. It’s our obligation and it’s so important to the infrastructure of Judaism.”
“Bob had a deep belief that as a result of the facilities, programming, inclusive mission statement and the welcoming personnel, the JCC has been and will always be the most nonthreatening access point into Jewish life for members of our community,” says Judi. “The JCC was more than ‘just a place’ for Bob. It was his skin. He had the opportunity to come of age at the JCC, and our family’s vision is that (that) should be a reality for all Jewish youth going well into the future.”
