Obitiuary: Robert Ayer Tonge

A private graveside service for Robert Ayer Tonge, a Carson City resident for the past 12 years, will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Lone Mountain Cemetery.

Mr. Tonge died May 26, 2003, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was born Jan. 10, 1921, in Upland, Pa., to Earl Stokes and Eleanor Eliza Ayer Tonge. He grew up in the Chester, Pa., area where he attended high school and junior college.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy the day after Pearl Harbor and served on a troop carrier in the South Pacific, operating a landing craft during World War II.

Mr. Tonge owned Owens Bros.-North American Van Lines at North and South Lake Tahoe for 20 years before retiring for his dream to cruise on his 43-foot sailboat. He and wife Barbara sailed to Mexico, cruising the Sea of Cortez and mainland Mexico before returning to the San Francisco area and finally settling in Carson City in 1991.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Bernice Tonge Ford, daughter, Sheila Marie LarRieu, and son, Brent Ayer Tonge.

Among his survivors are his wife of 44 years, Barbara; daughters, Karen Adrienne Easton of Carson City, and Marie Davis of Marin County and grandsons, Ronald, Shawn and Brian.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Northern Nevada Alzheimer's Association, 705 S. Wells Ave., No. 225, P.O. Box 6362, Reno, NV 89573.

Capitol City Memorial Cremation and Burial Society is in charge of arrangements.