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Philadelphia ‘Fixture’ Bob Rovner Dies at 77
OB I TUARY
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
BOB ROVNER SPENT every
summer of his life down the
shore, according to his son,
Dan Rovner.

As a kid, he went with his
parents on trips to Atlantic
City, their childhood home.

Then, as an adult, he took his
own family to their vacation
house in Margate.

Rovner loved the shore
because he loved riding his
bike around the Atlantic
City Boardwalk, to smile and
wave at people, and to strike
up conversation after conver-
sation. Dan Rovner said his
father never actually made it to
the beach.

“He was this incredibly
energetic person who loved
people,” Dan Rovner added.

On Sept. 8 in Philadelphia,
Rovner died after spending
his last couple weeks at the
Hospital of the University of
Pennsylvania. He was dealing
with complications from
myelodysplastic syndrome, a
blood disorder in which cells
do not fully form.

The Philadelphia lifer left
behind his two sons, Dan, 51,
and Steven, 53, as well as four
grandchildren. Rovner was
divorced. He also left behind a
successful Feasterville law
firm, Rovner, Allen, Rovner,
Zimmerman, Sigman
& Schmidt, where Steven Rovner
still works. The firm specializes
in personal injury lawsuits.

Outside of family and work,
Rovner was just as energetic in
the community as he was on
the boardwalk.

He became the first person
in his family to attend college
and graduated from Temple
University as class presi-
dent. While serving as a state
senator from 1970-74, Rovner
sponsored the Lottery Bill,
which earmarked profits from
the Pennsylvania Lottery to
benefit senior citizens.

As an adult, Rovner served
as a trustee for Temple, the
Pennsylvania College of
Podiatric Medicine and the
Zionist Organization of
America. And as a Jewish man
who lived in the post-World
War II era, he valued Israel,
raising “a significant amount of
money” through Israel Bonds,
according to Dan Rovner.

“There’s only one Bob
Rovner,” Steven Rovner said.

“He’s going to be missed.”
Born Sept. 28, 1943 to
Edward and Bessie Rovner,
Bob Rov ner spent h i s
ch i ld hood i n Nor t hea st
Philadelphia, graduating from
Northeast High School.

His father rose from a first
job as a dishwasher to become
a labor leader with the Hotel,
Restaurant & Bartenders
Union. And Rovner showed a
similar work ethic in his young
life, working as a waiter, to
put himself through Temple
University James E. Beasley
School of Law and founding
his own firm.

Bob’s realization of his
American dream meant that,
while he may have been the
first person in his family to go
to college, he was far from the
last, and his sons both became
Philadelphia-area attorneys,
like their dad.

Steven Rovner started as
an entertainment lawyer in
Los Angeles, but returned to
the area to be closer to family.

When he came back, he kept
his promise to work for the
firm his father founded if he
ever lived here again.

Dan Rovner wanted to
forge his own path, calling his
father “a powerful force.” So he
The Rovner family, with Bob
Rovner, third from left
Bob Rovner with his sons Dan,
left, and Steven, right.

Courtesy of the Rovner family
ended up at Ross Feller Casey,
a personal injury firm in
Center City.

“Everything he had he
worked hard for, and he
instilled that in us,” Dan
Rovner said.

But it wasn’t just their patri-
arch’s example that the Rovner
boys followed. It was also
his word.

Rovner called his sons and
grandsons every day. Dan
Rovner said that’s what he’ll
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miss most about his dad. Steven
Rovner said his father made
genuine and personal connec-
tions with his three grandsons.

“They all had different
relationships with him,” Steven
Rovner said.

Rovner didn’t get to have
those conversations with his
only granddaughter, who is
only one-and-a-half . But in the
past 18 months, Dan Rovner
made sure to take pictures of
grandpa and granddaughter
together. “I’m so appreciative he was
around when she was born,
and got to know her for 18
months,” Dan said.

Like most people, Rovner
slowed down when the
pandemic hit. He was still
working and calling his family,
but he wasn’t going out and
doing as much.

Still, there was one activity
he kept up: biking around the
boardwalk while smiling and
waving at people. And talking
to them, too.

“If he ever wasn’t on the
boardwalk, people would get
concerned,” Dan Rovner
concluded. “He was a fixture.” l
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