June 24, 1946 – December 5, 2024
Born June 24, 1946, beloved father, brother, grandfather, friend, and newly found karaoke leader and card shark, Robert “Toby” (or “Bob”, if you preferred) Masters passed away on Dec 5, 2024.
Along with his two sisters, Cheri and Linda, Toby was raised in Seattle, WA by Lester and Maren Masters. Toby graduated from Queen Anne High School, where his love for music and drums evolved into a semi-professional career, playing in several bands throughout much of the first half of his life.
Whether it was his percussive talents, or his incredible gift of seeing the positive in most any situation, Toby wooed his lifelong sweetheart, Becki, at the local dances in Seattle. They were married June 22, 1968 and stayed married until Becki’s passing in 2018.
After Toby’s rock-and-roll days as a member of the annual New Years Eve House Band at the Holiday Inn slowed down, he found new and equally engaging activities. Toby started biking in his 40s and among the many, many rides over the years, 12 of those (by our best count) were from Seattle to Portland. Toby enjoyed cooking, especially with any gadget that could be purchased from your TV (Dad, did you really need the second food dehydrator?). He also had a lifelong passion for riding any motorcycle he could get his 5 foot 4 inch self onto, graduating to a 3-wheeled ride that Batman would envy, with a modified exhaust loud enough for anyone within a square mile to hear. “It’s for safety,” he would say with a smile.
With Becki, Toby enjoyed traveling, especially if friends and family came along, and even better, if the trip included visiting even more friends and family. Toby and Becki travelled from Alaska to Australia and many places in between. Befitting Toby, where one might get a small trinket as a souvenir, he would be just as likely to get a new tattoo to commemorate a special trip.
When he wasn’t finding ways to occupy himself outside of work, Toby spent much of his working career at the Simmons Mattress Company and, for many years, at Boeing. Regardless of where he worked, Toby helped to create a community, not just of colleagues, but friends.
Toby is survived by his sister, 3 children and 7 grandkids, all of whom he would do anything for.
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