Robert “Bob” Pumford

1934-2026

Robert “Bob” Pumford, 91, of Jamestown NY, passed away at the Cleveland Clinic on June 9, 2026, after a brief hospitalization.

Bob was born on July 14, 1934, in Hemlock Michigan, the seventh child of Milo and Lizette Bannon Pumford. He was raised in Chesaning Michigan, where he graduated from Our Lady High School in 1952. Bob received his BA from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids MI in 1956, and MA from Marquette University in Milwaukee WI in 1958. He also attended the University of Tubingen, Germany and the Center for Intercultural Formation in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he studied advanced mathematics and Spanish, respectively.

Bob taught math five years at Aquinas College, three years at Colegio San Carlos in Bogota Colombia, and 28 years full time and five years part time at Jamestown Community College. In retirement he tutored math for 16 years at JCC, did home visitations, drove people to doctor’s appointments through RSVP, and was very active in his kids’ and grandkids’ lives.

While teaching math in Bogota Colombia as a lay volunteer at a new Benedictine boys’ high school, Bob met the love of his life, June Weatherly of Jamestown, who was a lay volunteer at a Benedictine girls’ school in Bogota. They married July 30th, 1966, at SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Jamestown. Their children are Kenneth (Sirjana Shakya), Brian, Valerie Swartz (Bradley), and Andrew (Marianne Jablunovsky), and they have 17 grandchildren and three great grandchildren. They were married for 57 years before June’s passing in 2023.

He attended St. James Catholic Church for many years and was a lector, secretary and president of the Holy Name Society, and worked on Catholic Charity drives. He was a founding member of Choose Life of Jamestown and he and June received the St. Joseph and Pro-Life awards from the Diocese of Buffalo in recognition of their years of pro-life work. Presently he has been attending Holy Apostles Parish at St. John Catholic Church.

Bob enjoyed summers with his family working on their small farm on Airport Hill, and spring and summer trips around the country. He enjoyed gardening, putting up hay, and especially working with his kids and later grandkids getting wood for the woodstove. In retirement, he and June traveled widely including two trips to Nepal and trips to Romania, China, and Vietnam, where he taught English, and trips throughout Europe.

Bob and June spent January to mid-March on the Gulf Coast of Alabama for many years, enjoying life with other “snowbirds” and the welcoming people at St. Thomas by the Sea Parish. Twice they left early and spent a month in Costa Rica, and once on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by sisters Maryetta Remster, Iola Demongey and Ellen Northrup, and brothers Jim, Bill, Tom, and Don. He is survived by a brother, Jack.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 20th at Holy Apostles Parish, SS Peter & Paul Church. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday June 19th in the Lind Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Options Care Center, 560 W. Third St., or the St. Susan Center, 31 Water St., both Jamestown, NY 14701. Online condolences may be offered at www.lindfuneralhome.com.