Robert Harold Marquardt

Robert Harold Marquardt, age 76, of Ocala, Florida passed away peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on April 22, 2026, after a long illness. He was born on April 18, 1950, to Emil and Helen Marquardt. He was a long-time resident on his family’s farm in rural Elburn, Illinois before moving to Florida nearly two decades ago.

Bob was a true jack of all trades and a master of several. He learned the skills needed to tend to everything on the farm, as well as a legendary work ethic alongside his father. He developed a love of cars and the ability to work on them as soon as he could drive, which he may have driven slightly faster than the posted speed limit from time to time. He ventured out on his own to build a life, and soon met and married Judy. Soon after, he was needed back on the farm after the passing of his father. He worked and built up the farm until it simply couldn’t support his growing family.

Every step along the way he dreamt big, but life had a way of getting in the way. When it did, he always fell back on hard work to dig back out. Through many partnerships, being both self-employed and an employee, he honed skills from construction, plumbing, residential electrical repair and installation, heavy equipment operation, concrete pouring and finishing, mechanical repair of everything from heavy equipment, cars and trucks, and home appliances. Basically, if it needed to be built, he could build it, if it needed to be fixed, he could fix if, and if it needed to be operated or driven, he could do that too. While not a natural teacher, if you watched him long enough, you could learn to do almost anything.

All this effort allowed him to support his family and raise three children and even give them the higher education he never got a chance to get himself. He may not have been able to provide the most expensive gifts to his wife, but he did bring home a piece of jewelry from time to time and trees and bushes that he dug up from job sites, because he knew she would love watching them grow in her yard.

Through all the ups and downs of Bob’s life, he always let the love of Jesus Christ shine through in all that he did. There was never a time that he wouldn’t be willing to help others with his time and skills. Always friendly to everyone he knew, to the point of having conversations long enough that his family would have to remind him that it was time to go, or if he was alone, they would simply wonder where he was for hours at a time. This even followed into his retirement plans as he planned to use his skills to help Samaritan’s Purse as a disaster relief volunteer before his illness made this impossible.

Robert is preceded in death by his parents.

He leaves behind to cherish his memory: wife, Judy Marquardt; children, Aaron (Jacquie) Marquardt, Brandon (Nicole) Marquardt, Courtney (Travis) Melvin; brothers, Fredrick (Pat) Marquardt, David (Genevieve) Marquardt; and eleven grandchildren – Joel (Samantha), Amalia, Faith, Sadie, Emilee, and Anna Marquardt. Helena, Isabella, Tristen, Emma, and Gabriel Melvin.

A private family memorial service will be held.

In lieu of flowers, consider a donation in honor of Bob to Samaritan’s Purse. samaritanspurse.org