{"id":46572,"date":"2023-09-11T20:10:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T20:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=46572"},"modified":"2023-09-11T20:10:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T20:10:34","slug":"temple-leaves-lasting-mark-on-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2023\/09\/11\/temple-leaves-lasting-mark-on-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Temple leaves lasting mark on community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Danielle Ray<\/em>
Landmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n\n\n\n

STERLING\/PRINCETON \u2014 The greater community is mourning the passing of Robert Temple, a veteran who was as involved with and dedicated to his community as one can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBob went above and beyond for our veterans and our community like few others have done or will do,\u201d Sterling Select Board Chair Maureen Cranson said two days after Temple died on Sept. 4 following a brief but valiant battle with cancer. She said he had \u201ca pair of boots that will be hard to fill and a personality that cannot be replicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple was a staple in his hometown of Sterling, where he was born and raised, even after moving to Princeton in 2011. He worked for the Sterling Department of Public works for 42 years, with a two-year break to serve in Vietnam when he was drafted into the Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bob Temple, left, with Isaiah French. The two collaborated on Project Warm-Up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to his obituary, Bobby, as he was affectionately called, loved his job with the DPW, and especially enjoyed plowing for hours on end during snowstorms. He also relished his 30 years as a member of the Sterling Fire Department and participating in the annual Wachusett Fire Muster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple joined the Hiram O. Taylor American Legion Post 189 in Sterling in 1972, shortly after returning from Vietnam, and was doubly honored with a 50-year continuous membership certificate and Legionnaire of the Year award in 2022. He held various positions within the post and served as Worcester County Commander of District 4 of the American Legion from 1997 to 1998, as his father, Raymond, (1953-54), and brother Don (1981-82) had done before him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His years with the Legion were very active, filled with helping to organize Memorial and Veterans Day parades in town, in which he marched, oftentimes with his beloved granddaughter Haleigh by his side. He was involved in the Avenue of Flags, fundraising ham dinners, fundraising for many hours at Walmart, perhaps flashing his patriotic prosthetic legs to get a little more of a donation from someone, meat raffles, promoting the Legion every year at The Sterling Fair, and collecting items from the community to distribute to veterans during the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Temple could be found holding court at the Sterling Legion Hall on School Street any day of the week. His commitment to serving his fellow veterans only became stronger after retiring from the DPW, even while dealing with his own health challenges, and his most recent efforts were with Clear Path for Veterans New England in Devens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veterans Service Officer for Sterling and Lancaster and Director of Veterans Services in Leominster Rick Voutour said he will miss his weekly visits with Temple at his office at the Sterling Senior Center, and called him \u201can inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing a double amputee did not slow him down at all,\u201d Voutour said of the veteran he knew for six years. \u201cHe was involved in every facet of veterans events in the town. It will be very difficult to replace him; he was a force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple\u2019s youngest sister, Beverly Temple, joked that her brother was \u201ca pain in my neck,\u201d but spoke highly of his dedication to veterans. She shared a story of Bob meeting a veteran in Leominster who had reached out to him asking if he had socks or other essentials \u2014 and how her brother did not hesitate to meet and help this stranger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beverly said that while her brother, the youngest of seven siblings, \u201cwasn\u2019t ready to go, someone else had other ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of his personality, he got a lot of people to do a lot more with the Legion and Project Warm-Up and all that,\u201d she proudly said, adding that she couldn\u2019t bring herself to go to The Sterling Fair this year because her brother wouldn\u2019t be there with a smile on his face, greeting people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple was instrumental in forming a collaboration several years ago with Project Warm-Up, a nonprofit organization started by Isaiah French, a member of the Sons of the American Legion, to serve homeless veterans in Boston, which then expanded to all of Massachusetts and New England.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French said Temple took him \u201cunder his wing\u201d six years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe almost immediately adopted me as his grandchild,\u201d French said. \u201cWe both were very passionate about helping others, and our relationship was indestructible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah’s mother, Rita Di-Stefano French, said Temple located veterans that served with her late husband Herb, also a veteran, and invited them from all over the country to witness Herb’s medals being presented to her boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBob gave us love, acceptance, energy, and instilled further commitment to community service and engagement,\u201d she said. \u201cHe opened so many doors for Project Warm-Up and for Isaiah. He brought together many of the 595th Desert Storm veterans, a wonderful reunion for some and an honor for the French boys to meet those who served with their father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah French, now 22, said that when he met Temple, he was a high school junior \u201cwho was a little lost,\u201d but his mentor, whom he lovingly called Grampy, \u201cnever stopped believing in me and always pushed me to be the best version of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe lives on through me, and I will do everything I can to carry on his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temple is survived by his wife Cindy (Carlson), daughter Samantha and son Elliott (Nicole) and granddaughter Haleigh, all of Princeton, brother Earl W. Temple (Debbie) and sisters Barbara DeStefano, Marjorie Johnson and Beverly Temple, sister-in-law Jeanette Temple, and several nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his parents, his brothers Donald Temple and James Temple, and brother-in-law Jeffrey Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Temple\u2019s family from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Miles-Sterling Funeral and Tribute Center, 100 Worcester Road, Sterling. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, at the First Church in Sterling, 6 Meetinghouse Hill Road, with a burial with military honors following at Hillside Cemetery in Sterling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donations may be made to the Hiram O. Taylor Post 189 American Legion, P.O. Box 245, Sterling, MA 01564, or to Project Warm-Up, 32 Cortland Drive, Stow, MA, 01775. To share a memory or offer an online condolence, visit milesfuneralhome.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story attributed Beverly Temple’s remembrances of her brother to their sister Barbara. The Landmark apologizes for the error.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Danielle RayLandmark Correspondent STERLING\/PRINCETON \u2014 The greater community is mourning the passing of Robert Temple, a veteran who was as involved with and dedicated to his community as one can be. \u201cBob went above and beyond for our veterans and our community like few others have done or will do,\u201d Sterling Select Board Chair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}