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Life story

" Robert (Bob) Edmond Zerrenner was born on January 20, 1965 in Ridgewood, NJ to parents, Edmond and Mary Zerrenner and siblings, Walter, William, Thomas and Lynn. He loved his hometown of Ridgewood and made many fond memories with childhood friends while attending Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, George Washington Jr. High, and Ridgewood High School. Following graduation, Bob attended Bergen Community College and completed his bachelors in finance at Ramapo College.



Bob met Cathy through mutual friends in college, and they married a few years later on March 16th, 1991. He and Cathy spent several years in Midland Park, NJ while Bob’s career in finance began to grow. They welcomed their daughter Courtney, in 1995, and their son, Cole in 1997 in Midland Park before moving to Pembroke Pines, FL a few months after Cole’s birth for Bob’s job. While living in Florida, Bob commuted frequently to Argentina on business trips and often made it back home just in time to help put on the hurricane shutters. Not a fan of the high temperatures and humidity, Bob moved the family in 1999 to Ashburn, Virginia for a position at Winstar Communications. He and Cathy spent the remainder of their married lives together in this house in Ashburn and welcomed their daughter, Keira, in 2002.



Bob’s years in Northern Virginia were marked by dedication to his work and sacrifice for his family. He spent decades advising and managing financial teams for multinational corporations, traveling all over the states and internationally for his job. One of the highlights of his career was spending time at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in a Senior Executive program as well as obtaining his Certificate in Financial Planning from UVA. Bob finally retired from an impressive career in finance in 2023 and quite quickly found himself bored. He filled his time with working at his local Trader Joe’s, where he found friendships and an endless supply of good stories about coworkers and customers alike.



In the summer of 2024, Bob began to feel that something was off. After many unclear tests and exams, he was finally diagnosed in August with Stage 4 linitis plastica, a rare form of gastric cancer. He fought cancer with all he had, hoping to make it to Keira’s college graduation in May of 2025. Faith, Family, and Fight was his refrain through his time in chemo and treatment. He made it to Keira’s graduation and even got to experience a final family beach trip to his beloved Corolla (OBX) in July 2025 with Cathy, all of his children, their significant others, and grandchildren. Bob passed at home on October 5th, 2025 with Cathy and his children near and is now in the arms of his Saviour.



Bob is survived by his wife, Cathy, children, Courtney (Josh Harstine), Cole, and Keira, grandchildren, Evelyn and Margaret, brothers Walt and Tommy (Lisa) Zerrenner, and sister, Lynn (Tim) Lalley and many nieces and nephews.



The family will be celebrating Bob’s life on November 1st at 2pm at Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn, Virginia and invites anyone who knew Bob to join.



In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Reston Bible Church First Fruits Project (https://www.restonbible.org/give#1722453784706-11114353-4d3f).

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