September 16, 1948 �" December 22, 2016
Robert (Bob) John Dern passed away suddenly at his home in Cathedral City, California, on December 22, 2016. He was 68. Bob was a kind, gentle man who was actively engaged in LGBT issues and AIDS awareness and was the certified public accountant for the Bay Area Reporter newspaper. Bob had an irrepressible sense of humor and was uncompromisingly himself.
He was born in East Orange, New Jersey on September 16, 1948, the younger son of Claude and Elizabeth Byrnes Dern. In the mid-1950s he moved with his family to an old farmhouse on Nichols Hill in Dorset, Vermont. He attended Burr and Burton Seminary, graduating in 1966 having been voted the worst male driver in his class. He lived in Boston for several years, then moved west to San Francisco in the mid-1970s. He obtained his CPA and worked as a successful accountant until his retirement in 2005. He had been diagnosed HIV-positive in 1984 and saw many dear friends succumb to AIDS over the years, in particular, his old partner, Sunny Fisher, last year and his close friend, Chas Wesdell. He visited Dorset this summer for his 50th high school class reunion.
He was predeceased by his parents, his nephew David Keith Dern, and his former partner, Sunny Fisher. He leaves behind his beloved cat, Pia; his brother Claude G. Dern; his sister Suzanne (Dern) Greene; his niece, Joyce (Dern) Rollins; his trusted friend Jim Yarbrough; as well as many other nieces and nephews, and dozens of friends, including Arthur Jones of Dorset, Vermont and Ann Soucy of Connecticut. If friends desire, charitable donations to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation or the SPCA in his memory would be very appropriate.