Our hearts are broken beyond repair. Robert Haywood, our wonderful son, died unexpectedly on August 25, 2024. We ask for your love and prayers as we go through this awful experience.
Rob was born in Bethesda, Maryland in 2000 and lived in Northern Virginia and Germany before we moved to our present home in Brandon, FL in 2003. Rob graduated from Duke University in 2023 with a BS degree in Computer Science, a minor in Music, and a certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He moved to San Francisco in late 2023 to co-found a tech startup. Rob was an amazing person in every way. A 2019 graduate of Strawberry Crest I.B. High School, Rob was very accomplished both academically and athletically. He was an Eagle Scout, a National Merit Scholar, a straight-A student, a nationally-ranked, four-year letterman in swimming, and finished sixth in the state in breaststroke in the Florida High School State Championships. At Duke, one of the top 10 universities in the country, he continued to excel academically and athletically, played a wide range of intramural sports, and learned to play the piano. Rob was an outgoing, gregarious, friendly, giving person, a much-loved member of the ATO fraternity, and had a wide circle of friends in Florida, at Duke, and in San Francisco. It has soothed our pain to hear from those who knew him. There is nothing we can say to convey the depth of our anguish. It will be a long journey to heal enough to carry on. It comforts us to know Rob accepted Jesus Christ into his heart and was baptized at age 10. For those of you who knew and loved Rob, we thank you for the time you spent in his life. His loving family includes his parents, Ed and Kelly Haywood; his brother, Carson Haywood; his grandmothers Diane Haywood (paternal) and Fay Downing (maternal); and a large and close extended family.
We invite all who knew and loved Rob to help us remember and celebrate him on Saturday, September 7th, 2024, at First Baptist Church of Brandon, 216 N. Parsons Avenue, Brandon, Florida 33510. Visitation will be from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. followed by a funeral service at 4 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, we would be deeply grateful for donations in Rob's name to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in honor of his great love for his pets.
Previous Events
Visitation
7
Sep
216 North Parsons Avenue
Brandon, FL 33510
Service
7
Sep
216 North Parsons Avenue
Brandon, FL 33510
Cemetery Details
Location
3301 Bloomingdale Avenue
Valrico, FL 33596
