Robert S. Roma ’79

Recruited by Notre Dame and other basketball powerhouses, Bob elected to attend Old Nassau not only for the chance to play under legendary coach Pete Carril, but also because he thought a Princeton education would stand him in good stead after his playing days were over.

Bob played on the 1976-77 Ivy Championship team and became co-captain senior year. Per teammate and best man at Bob’s wedding, Tim Olah, Bob ate a dozen eggs, over easy, every day for breakfast as part of his training regimen. He scored more than 1,000 points in his Princeton career, amazing in the pre-three-point era.

A passionate reader, Bob majored in English, writing his thesis on postwar American fiction.

The summer preceding freshman year, Bob met the love of his life, Elise DeClerk Roma, to whom he was married for 41 years. They had two children, Kristin and Stephen, and two grandchildren.

A longtime resident of Worcester Township, Pa., where he owned a window, door, and awning business, Bob was on the waiting list for a heart transplant when he died Nov. 9, 2020. The class extends its heartfelt condolences to Elise, Kristin, and Stephen, their family members, and friends.