A man who once described himself as “afraid of girls” and so shy that “speech was incredibly painful,” Bob Praver has spent decades stepping forward as a leader. He was a Navy officer during World War II, built a home-construction business and became a dedicated volunteer in Glen Cove. Last Sunday, more than 100 family members and friends gathered at the Nassau County Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center to celebrate his 100th birthday, honoring what many described as a life defined by perseverance and impact.
Born in Brooklyn on Oct. 21, 1925, Praver was raised by parents of Eastern European Jewish descent. His father, Morris, had Polish roots, and his mother, Jean, emigrated from Ukraine with her family when she was 3. When his mother died at age 34, Praver was not yet 8.
He found purpose and identity in the Boy Scouts, calling scouting “my life” from age 12 until college. At 15, in November 1940, he was one of three American Boy Scouts selected to join a live trans-Atlantic radio broadcast with scouts in London on NBC’s WEAF during the Nazi bombardment.
“You force yourself to do it,” Praver recalled of overcoming his shyness on the airwaves. Speaking to British boys “in the throes of attacks every night,” he asked how they supported the war effort, and learned that they were delivering messages by foot or bicycle through the destruction.
At just 16, Praver entered Syracuse University as an engineering student. After turning 17, he was recruited into the Navy’s V-12 program, and completed six additional semesters at Cornell University, preparing to become an officer. His parents, he said, strongly encouraged him, and in November 1945, two months after Japan’s surrender, he was commissioned as an ensign. He spent the following six months helping to transport soldiers and Marines home from the Pacific.
“There’s a lot of waiting in the military,” he said. “In six months, we must have spent six days in the Pacific … but the mission was to help bring our boys home.”
Following his service, Praver returned to New York, and briefly worked for the Long Island Lighting Company as a junior engineer before joining his father and brother in home construction. In 1962 he established Homes by Bob Praver, shifting his focus to high-end homes with strong architectural design. His son Josh worked alongside him on many projects, and he remained active in development until his retirement in 2008.
His family grew as well. Bob and his wife, Jeanette had four children — Susana Praver-Perez, now 68, Josh, 66, Shaul, 65, and Sholom, 59 — and they joined him at Sunday’s celebration, along with 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In her remarks at the gathering, Praver-Perez said his milestone birthday reflected his resolve. “When you see something that has to be done, you do it,” she told her father. “Your determination got you through it … You’re really my inspiration, Dad, in so many ways.”
After moving to Glen Cove 16 years ago, Praver found new ways to stay engaged. Living in an apartment building with a tiny 18-seat theater, he began hosting movie screenings and leading discussions afterward. “It was a labor of love,” he said. Later he brought the program to the Glen Cove Public Library.
It was another film screening — this one at the Holocaust Center — that led Praver to one of his best-known local contributions. Around 2011, he noticed that the Children’s Memorial Garden at the center was suffering from neglect. “It was so clouded with weeds,” he recounted, and at the time he thought, “I’ve got to do something about this.” So he introduced himself to the center’s leadership and, drawing on his building experience, got to work.
“Bob came to me and he goes, ‘You know what? We could do better,’” the center’s vice chair, Jolanta Zamecka, recalled. Working with landscapers and donors, they created an amphitheater and installed stanchions displaying quotes from Holocaust victims, survivors and resistors — transforming the garden into a reflective outdoor classroom that now serves tens of thousands of students each year.
Volunteer Robert Topping recalled Praver’s direct leadership style in the garden. “Here’s this old guy with a clipboard, ordering me around,” Topping joked, adding, “He’s a very intellectual man … and his stories are wonderful.”
Praver sees his years of action as the defining thread of his life. “I was a bit of a leader,” he said. “I wanted to do things. I didn’t want idle time.” He summed up his approach in four words: “I’m just a doer.”
