Robert Lea Cloud

ROBERT LEA CLOUD 

Born in El Paso, TX, to Orrin and Evelyn Cloud on January 6, 1933, Robert “Bob” Lea Cloud was raised in El Paso, Texas. He died in his sleep surrounded by his children on the morning of June 18, 2015 in Waynesboro, Virginia. A son of an impoverished family, Bob came of age with America’s prosperity, and his journey through life is a classic rags to riches story.

Thanks to winning a merit scholarship, Bob was able to attend Texas A&M University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree and then a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. While attending college, Bob met and married the love of his life, Helen Claire Cooley of Houston, Texas.

Bob’s career took Helen and their first child to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where Bob worked for the Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Laboratory on the Nautilus nuclear submarine program.  During his time in Pittsburgh, Bob earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and watched his family grow to five children on their farm in Lone Pine, Pennsylvania.

In 1969 Bob moved his family to Massachusetts for a career opportunity with Teledyne Materials Research. In New England, he developed a passion for saltwater sailing and spent many happy days with his wife, four children, and a dog on their 28’ wooden ketch, the “West Wind.”

In 1971 Bob returned with his family to Pittsburgh and Westinghouse, where he managed the Materials Research Laboratory of Westinghouse’s Nuclear Power Reactor operations.  In 1979, he set out for Berkeley, California to start Robert L. Cloud & Associates. Bob and Helen ran this highly successful nuclear power engineering firm. At its height, Robert L. Cloud & Associates employed over fifty engineers and support staff, held numerous patents, and worked on major projects such as the seismic re-verification of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

In 1997, Bob retired to Greenmont Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, where he dreamt of starting a winery. Unfortunately, Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury while cycling in France that same year. Thereafter, he was in the care of his wife until the last year and a half of his life. Helen’s devotion to his recovery allowed him to regain a quality of life his doctors did not believe possible, and Bob enjoyed many happy years of tranquility on his farm.

Throughout his life, Bob’s charismatic personality inspired those around him, making him a natural leader. People admired Bob’s zest for adventure: he never met a new experience he didn’t like, whether it was building the worldwide nuclear power industry or learning to farm, sail, and ski. Bob was admired for his dedication to family, and he was known for treating co-workers, employees, and strangers with kindness and compassion, due to the deep insight into the suffering of others that Bob gained while growing up as an impoverished child with Mexican heritage in 1940’s El Paso.

Bob was pre-deceased by his beloved wife of 58 years, Helen, and by his youngest son, Jesse Robert Cloud.  His is survived by his sisters Shirley Whelen of El Paso, Texas and Ginger Van Dijk of Vancouver, Washington. He will be missed by his loving children: Elizabeth Anne Cloud of Chicago, Illinois; Joseph Christopher Cloud of Staunton, Virginia; Roy Leo Cloud of Washington, D.C.; and Lea Houston Cloud, of Hoboken, New Jersey.  Bob is also survived by his grandchildren: Kaitlin and Christopher Cloud, and Zoe and Noah Grosshandler.

In his later years Bob was a devoted member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waynesboro (UUFW). Donations in his name can be made to the UUFW (565 Pine Ave., Waynesboro, VA 22980) or to The Bridgeline, an organization that serves people with brain injuries. (P.O. Box 7292, Charlottesville, VA 22906). Bob will be remembered in a memorial service at the UUFW on August 22 at 10:00 a.m.

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