Robert (Bobby) B. Brenegan, a native of Williamsburg, Va., died peacefully May 8 at his home on Hilton Head Island, SC after a short illness. He was 80 years old.
Devoted husband to Linda (nee Funk of Baltimore, MD), the couple celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2023. They made their home together in the Guilford neighborhood of Baltimore for 36 years and were longtime parishioners of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen before moving to Hilton Head.
Born March 21, 1944, Bobby was the son of Leighton D. and Nancy G. Brenegan and was raised in Williamsburg, Va. He had a lifelong interest in baseball and played in Little League, on his James Blair High School team, and in the competitive American Legion League after high school. In Baltimore, he attended Orioles games, and also volunteered with a baseball program benefiting under-privileged youth. Bobby loved playing golf and was a longtime member of
Eagles Nest in Phoenix, Md. He also played in the Lobster Pot Invitational, a pro-am
tournament, in Bermuda for about 12 years.
He was a graduate of Campbell University and a founding member and senior vice president of Maryland National Industrial Finance Corp, a subsidiary of Maryland National Bank. He continued his banking career with Bank of America as vice president of Special Assets, managing a portfolio of graded commercial loans. Upon retiring in 1998 after 24 years in banking, he began a new career with CBIZ, Inc., a national auditing and business services firm serving as Managing Director of Lender Services providing audits for bank clients, a position he held for 10 years.
For many years Bobby served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Next Ice Age, a professional figure skating company in which Dorothy Hamill, also a member of the board of directors, appeared regularly as a special guest star. Over the years the Brenegans hosted Next Ice Age skaters in their home for the weeks leading up to a performance, including two seasons at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. When Ice Capades performed in Baltimore, some of the show’s skaters who had previously stayed with the Brenegans visited them, and brought the entire ensemble for an impromptu party.
He was also a supporter of the Little Sisters of the Poor who run free nursing homes for the elderly poor; and served many years on the board of Towson Women’s Care which offers free medical and material aid to mothers and their young children.
Throughout their time in Baltimore, Bobby and Linda were generous hosts, sharing their home with a parade of friends, old and new. They housed students (and their subsequent visiting families) from France and Japan. When the William & Mary soccer team played Loyola University they served up a cookout for players and parents. One year the alumni came too, bringing the crowd size to seventy people.
But none were hosted more often than family, whether visiting from Williamsburg or Linda’s large Baltimore family, celebrating countless holiday dinners, swim parties, wedding rehearsal dinners, anniversaries, family reunions and even a family wedding. Bobby loved to socialize; his eyes twinkled and his lips pulled to a smile as he’d lean forward to share a humorous story.
Bobby loved Williamsburg and was proud of growing up there. During summer breaks from college, he worked in several of the craft shops as an interpreter of colonial history. When he worked at the Wig Shop his friends working at the King’s Arms Tavern would pass iced tea to him through a window in the hot summer, and sometimes pelt him with cherries when they knew he couldn’t react because he was talking to a group of tourists.
His mother, Nancy, worked in the Millinery Shop and later became the Master Wigmaker in the Wig Shop. Decades later he took great pleasure in seeing his mother on the 1978 show, Perry Como, An Early American Christmas, filmed in Williamsburg.
In addition to his wife, Bobby is survived by his sister Carol Ann Linville and her husband Carl; brother Layton Brenegan and his wife Pat; sister Debbie Spirn and her husband Stuart, all of Williamsburg; brother John Brenegan of Chesapeake, Va., and many nieces and nephews.
Family will receive friends on May 22, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Bucktrout of Williamsburg, Va., 4124 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg, Va. 23188.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on May 23 at 11 a.m. at St. Bede Catholic Church, 3686 Ironbound Road, Williamsburg.
