Bob Otto, the longtime proprietor of a local glass and aluminum supply business, died on Aug. 1 in hospice care in Jupiter, Fla. The former East Hampton resident was 88 and had been ill for a month with complications from surgery.
Before starting Robert E. Otto Glass Inc., he was a partner with Ward Freese in a similar business. The two parted ways in 1960 and Mr. Otto took the glass business to a storefront on North Main Street in East Hampton. Five years later, he moved it to where it has been ever since, on Montauk Highway in Wainscott. Two generations of Ottos have followed him in the business.
Robert E. Otto was born in Englewood, N.J., on Feb. 12, 1934, to Edward G. Otto and the former Lucy Wilkening. He grew up in Englewood, attending school there and spending summers camping in Hither Hills and later in East Hampton. As a teenager, he worked on fishing boats in Montauk, and later as a lineman at East Hampton Airport, before getting into the business that occupied him for the rest of his working life.
In East Hampton, Mr. Otto was a member of the Lions Club for more than 30 years, including a term as its president. He also coached Little League and was involved with the Boy Scouts. He was an avid sportfisherman who, in his youth, enjoyed boatbuilding with his father. A self-taught mechanic and woodworker, he was especially fond of Ford Model A antique cars, frequently attending car shows, and of radio-controlled airplanes. Relatives wrote that his barbecued corn will never be forgotten.
In 1958, he married Joan O'Malley. The couple split their time between East Hampton and Jupiter, and moved to Jupiter full time in 2000 after Mr. Otto retired. His wife died in September 2018.
They had five children, all of whom survive. They are Robert Otto Jr. of Water Mill; Mary Kampf, Lawrence Otto, and James Otto, all of East Hampton, and Barbara Vaccarelli of Prospect, Conn.
In addition to his children, Mr. Otto leaves 11 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and a sister, Jane Otto of The Villages, Fla. A memorial service will be held in Jupiter on Sept. 17. A funeral Mass will be said on Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church here, where Mr. Otto often attended services. Burial took place at the church's cemetery on Cedar Street, East Hampton.
