Robert Luther Martin "Bobby" Lloyd

ROBERT LUTHER MARTIN “BOBBY” LLOYD passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family and loved ones on April 1, 2025 following a lengthy illness. He was the 6th of 7 children born to Lenwood Lloyd and Anna Mildred Brown on March 19, 1951; all living in a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom home on Groveton Street in Alexandria. His parents were members of the group that met at the old Groveton Elementary School and founded Groveton Baptist Church (GBC) in 1943. When younger sister Jane was born, toddler Bobby would steal her baby bottle and drink it himself. He was such a picky eater that many nights his Mama would feed the rest of the family and be forced to open a can of Chef Boyardee for Bobby, a trend that would continue the rest of his life. He was always content as long as there was Chef Boyardee, Beenie Weenie, Vienna Sausages, and chips in the house. The family lived just down the street from the old Groveton Elementary, yet his Mama would have to chase him with a broom to get him to school. He graduated in the Class of 1970 from Groveton High School, having played varsity baseball. Go Tigers! He stayed in touch with his high school friends the rest of his life and loved attending class reunions. Subsequently, he earned an Associate’s Degree in Accounting from Northern Virginia Community College and went to work for the National Automobile Dealers Association. He met future wife Valerie Lodewick in Sunday School at GBC. On their first date, he took her and her young son Robert to a Monster Truck Pull at the Capital Center. They announced their engagement at John and Amy Schneider’s wedding at GBC; and had their own wedding there on January 11, 1986. Son Robert Luther Martin “BJ” Lloyd, Jr would follow a year later, with Bobby devotedly attending childbirth classes with Valerie and was present in the room during the birth. About that time Bobby also began a 23-year career in the federal government as an Accountant at the U.S. Department of Labor. Throughout his life, friends and family were everything to Bobby. Hardly a weekend would go by without a visit to his siblings; often with nothing more to do than reminisce about childhood. In the summer-time he and Valerie took the boys to Rehoboth Beach to play games and ride rides at Funland and eat Boardwalk French fries—except once when a seagull made a deposit on BJ’s fries. They had fun dressing up for old-timey photographs. The whole Lloyd family celebrated Robert’s and BJ’s graduations and weddings. Bobby helped BJ move into his dorm at Virginia Tech and his first apartment in Newport News. Bobby loved sports, birthdays, and Christmas. In addition to playing Varsity baseball in high school, he also played softball and volleyball on the GBC teams, coached youth basketball and BJ’s tee ball team. He loved his Washington Redskins, Nationals, as well as the Boston Celtics. Hardly a Sunday went by in the Lloyd household without rousing words of criticism shouted at the family TV. Ever the creature of habit, for birthdays he always had to have a Carvel ice cream cake, and he insisted on Scotch Pine Christmas trees—the bigger the better (the sap on the living room ceiling proves it). Bobby stayed up until 4:00am one Christmas helping his father-in-law build the GI Joe aircraft carrier for Robert. Bobby also helped build the boys’ a tree house at their grandparents’. Bobby’s Christmas lights were the best on Vernon Avenue—everyone said so; and were always accentuated by the mandatory colored bubble lights he had cherished since childhood. He was a lifelong member of GBC. He completed the “Read the Bible Through” challenge in 1985. He volunteered on committees, sang in the choir and served as treasurer for many years. One year he and his brother Buzzy went on a mission trip to Rhode Island to renovate a run-down old church. They were “blessed” with the worst job on the project—scraping and painting, which they loathed. Bobby’s other hobbies included working out, pen making and woodworking. He worked out 3 or 4 days a week at Gold’s Gym. He made beautiful ballpoint pens in his workshop with his lathe and gave them to all his friends and family. And he built many pieces of furniture for their home, including occasional tables, sofa end-tables, a TV stand, and a beautiful king-size walnut headboard. Bobby faithfully cared for Valerie through her cancer treatments in 2012. Every 2 weeks he loaded the car with 2 dogs, pillows, blankets and a DVD player—and Valerie. He and dogs Buddy and Poo Bear waited 4 or 5 hours in the parking garage while she went through each treatment. And how he loved his dog Buddy! Bobby didn’t like walking—it hurt his feet—but he took over dog walking when Val got sick. For years he faithfully walked Buddy every day around the Mount Vernon High School ball fields. Together they collected buckets and buckets of lost baseballs, each one marked with the date found. Bobby and Valerie nursed Buddy through a years-long battle with cancer and he lived to age 17. They also took in little Chihuahua Tanner when Valerie’s mom couldn’t care for him anymore, and then they adopted mean little Lola. He would also dotingly care for son BJ’s dog Libby whenever visiting; wherein many treats were “begged”. The family thank you for the blessings you brought to Bobby’s life and for being with us at this time: survivors include wife Valerie, son BJ (Morgan), brothers Lenwood “Buzzy” Lloyd (Alba) and Wayne Lloyd, sister Jane Koch (Ed), stepson Robert Lodewick, and many beloved nieces and nephews. His sisters Edna Lloyd, Anna Davis, and Betty Fried predeceased him.

Tributes

Robert Luther Martin "Bobby" Lloyd

March 19, 1951 - April 1, 2025