Remembering those lost to COVID-19: Bob Maxwell left his mark across Atascadero
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Remembering those lost to COVID-19
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If you take a stroll through Atascadero, there’s a good chance you’re looking at the handiwork of Robert Maxwell.
Known as “Bob” to most — or “Bulldog” to his Kiwanis friends for his tenacious dedication to seeing through a project — Maxwell was a man dedicated to bettering his community any way he could.
“Everyone knew Dad,” his daughter, Becky Maxwell, told The Tribune. “They asked who my parents were — they wouldn’t know Mom, but they knew my dad.”
Bob Maxwell, who died from coronavirus on July 27 at the age of 89, was a dedicated member of the Kiwanis Club of Atascadero and the force behind numerous beautification projects across Atascadero.
Born in Big Sandy, Montana, in 1931, Maxwell came to the Central Coast via what was then Camp Cook, now modern-day Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc.
While cooking at a cafe in Paso Robles, Maxwell met his soon-to-be-wife, Helen, though their start wasn’t great, his daughter recalled with a laugh.
“Some waitress didn’t show up and my grandfather brought my mom in to be a waitress,” she said. “It wasn’t a great start because he complained about my mom’s slowness. And then he also asked my aunt out first and she turned him down. How they ever got together I’m still not sure.”
But stay together they did — for almost 50 years, until Helen’s death in 2004.
Though he would dabble in various jobs around North County and at one point even move to North Dakota for a job, Bob Maxwell’s true passion clearly laid in Atascadero.
Becky Maxwell said her father “found his niche” with the Atascadero Kiwanis in the 1970s. He served as the club’s president in 1977 and 1978 and its secretary from the mid 1980s through the early 2000s, she said. At that time, he was its longest-serving member.
As part of the Kiwanis, Maxwell helped build the original bandstand in Atascadero Lake Park, sponsored the city’s first fundraising walks for Alzheimer’s awareness, started barbecues for Relay for Life, helped build benches and barbecue pits across the city, pushed for wheelchair-accessible ramps at the Sunken Gardens and even spearheaded the meerkat exhibit at the Charles Paddock Zoo, where his daughter now works.
“If there was a building project, he spearheaded it,” Becky Maxwell said. “If there was a barbecue for the Kiwanis, he spearheaded it.”
Speaking of her father’s mark on the city, she said, “I love it.”
Becky Maxwell said she never knew what drove her father — just that he was dedicated to civil service in a way few others are.
In 2002, Bob Maxwell was named Atascadero’s Citizen of the Year. A Tribune article at the time described Maxwell as the “driving force” behind volunteer projects across the city.
“He doesn’t look for the limelight,” fellow Kiwanis member and friend Ned Thompson told The Tribune then. “He just genuinely wants to help people out. He believes that if something is physically possible, then we can do it. Just roll up your sleeves, get dirty and get it done.”
In that same article, Maxwell offered a simple reason for his dedication to community.
“It’s something to do,” he said, “and I enjoy doing it.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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