1:00 p.m., Green Valley Church, Placerville.
Robert "Bob" West, a prominent El Dorado County businessman and past leader of California Masons who gave back to the community as a philanthropist and volunteer, has died at age 81.
He died Aug. 1 of congestive heart failure, said his son, James.
Mr. West's family founded and operated Placerville Lumber Co. for almost 50 years. Starting at age 12, he worked his way up to become president before declining lumber prices led the operation to be sold in 1984.
He founded Cold Springs Golf and Country Club in Placerville. He was a vice president and partner with his brother, Harvey, in developing Graeagle, a Plumas County residential and golf community.
Mr. West was a community activist who got things done, his family and friends said. He volunteered in many civic and service groups, including the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts, Rotary Club and El Dorado County Juvenile Justice Commission.
He was a major donor and longtime board member and president of Marshall Medical Center. He founded the Marshall Foundation and started an annual golf tournament to raise money for the hospital and local medical programs.
"A lot of people had great ideas, but Bob stepped up to make things happen," said Susan Peters, former foundation executive director. "He had the relationships, the personality and the passion to bring people together to create something wonderful."
Mr. West's warm, easygoing manner also helped him succeed in Masonry, friends said. He started in El Dorado Lodge No. 26 in 1954 and remained humble as he steadily climbed the ranks to grand master of Masons in California and Hawaii in the early 1980s.
"Some people think you don't just walk up and talk to a grand master," past California Grand Master Fred Sorsabal said, "but Bob was the kind of guy who went out of his way to make sure people around him were comfortable."
Robert Orville West was born in 1926 in Santa Cruz to Leila and Harvey West Sr. He was just a boy when his father, a lumberman, expanded his business and moved the family to El Dorado County.
He graduated from El Dorado High School in 1945, served in the Army Air Forces and married his high school sweetheart, Jean Wigglesworth, in 1947. They reared six children, including a son, David, who died in 1997.
Mr. West was a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks for 50 years and joined the American Legion. He was a 33rd-degree Mason and belonged to Scottish Rite, Ben Ali Shrine Temple and Order of Eastern Star.
His contributions to the community and Masons were honored in 1982 by the California Assembly and the state Senate Rules Committee. He received the Boy Scouts' Silver Beaver Award in 1970 and was named outstanding citizen of 1973 by the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce.
"He learned from his father, who was very successful in business and always felt that his success came in great part from the community," James West said. "It was his responsibility to give back."
