Bob Massart
Bob apparently has the rare distinction of being a Charter member of two Councils.  Though the memories are a bit vague at the present time, he remembers getting involved in the Knights of Columbus back in his college Freshman days.  That was at the invitation of Don LeBrun as a Council (#4692) was being formed at St. Norbert College in DePere in the 60's, and he believes he was a Charter member.  He also remembers being involved in the Council's leadership, and he isn't quite sure, but thinks he served as Grand Knight around his Senior year.  He graduated in 1966.  As time went on he became less active in the Knights, but when a new Council was formed at St. Bernard in 1990 he transferred and signed up as a Charter Member of Council 10243.

These days the auction business that bears his name keeps him and several others in the family pretty busy, and he rarely has the chance to take in meetings or activities of the Council, but occasionally he's found himself at a food stand.  Aside from that, life is devoted to business.  It was actually back when Bob served for several years in the Navy and was a helicopter pilot.  Among the places he has been are bases at Pensacola and Norfolk.  It was actually in the Navy that he got interested in auctions.  At one of the bases where he was serving there was a Baptist Church no longer being used for worship.  Someone would accumulate items for auction that had been shipped into the area and coordinate an auction.  Bob thought there might just be a good market for something like that in the Green Bay area so he found himself getting more and more interested in the business.  He took the necessary time to go to auctioneering School in Mason City, Iowa and eventually bought a building for getting things together and for storage.  He's been in the auction business pretty much since 1974.  An average day might include a lot of time on the road, all tied in with appraisals sorting all the 'stuff' and getting things set up for yet another auction.  There are a lot of descriptions to come up with, cataloging and entering data into the computer.  Yet, it seems to have been infectious, because Bob's wife Pat followed him into the business, as did one of his children, Damien.  Damien was also a member of Council 10243 for a time, but withdrew in 2000.

Free time simply means resting from all the work that he has to do.  He's been a deer hunter in the past, but these days he's also developed an important spiritual element to his life.  He tries to attend mass daily, usually the 6:45 AM at St. Matthew.  He and Pat also try to take part one Koinonia every year and they are also members of the People of God Prayer Group that meets at St. Matt's.  Bob and Pat have been married for about thirty-five years now and have four children.  In addition to auction duties, Pat has been involved with parish life at St. Bernard, serving on the Parish Council.  Three of their children are living in the state and a fourth is in Maryland.  One of his daughters is a chiropractor who has her business on the West Side.  The children range in age from late twenties to early thirties.  Bob is originally from Rosaire and Pat is a Green Bay native. 

July 2003