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On Monday morning April 10, Robert (Bob) Sands of Old Saybrook, in his 84th year, passed quietly in the arms of his wife Tina (Regina Grant) Sands. Bob, Tina’s beloved husband and mate of more than 10 years, was born Rocky Vaticano on Nov. 15, 1933, in the Bronx, New York, to the late Carmen John Vaticano and Marion (Sangtacto) Vaticano.

Besides his always and forever wife, Bob is survived by his sister Joan Consenza (Joe); nephews Robert, John, and Paul and niece Lorraine; daughters Tracey Sands and Dana (Daniel) Pagan; grandson Daniel; and stepson Christopher Grant and his fiancée Christina Vene. He is also survived by his cousin Richard (Diane) Cohan; numerous nieces and nephews; a grandniece and numerous grandnephews; and grandchildren Ryan and Belinda Auerhan, Isabel Chrimm, and Daniel Pagan. Bob is also survived by sisters-in-law Mary Pat Boron and her sons Gregg Boron and Chris (Alexis) Boron, Kate Grant Madigan and her sons Jeb (Abby) Madigan and Grant Madigan, Dr. Sue Grant (Paul) Lewis and their sons Gareth and Gavin Lewis, Beth (Dave) Peck and their daughters Amanda (Steven) Maher and Sarah Peck (Andy Groeninger); and brothers–in-law Bill Grant and Matt (Robyn) Grant and their children Ryan and Rachel Grant.

A true Bronx Boy, Bob was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds his senior year of high school. He played shortstop and second base for them in the minors for four years under former Major League All-Star Johnny Vander Meer. Rocky spent three years in the US Army as part of the Military Police Detachment, Fifth Army, in St. Louis, Missouri, and led their local team to two National Championships. Honorably discharged in 1958, Bob began Town Limo in Tuckahoe, New York, with longtime friend Alan McIllheny. Shortly thereafter he refocused his energies on his first love, playing ball for the late CBS broadcaster Jim Jensen on Jim Jensen’s All Stars (Central Park Rats) throughout the New York Tri-State area, and raising monies for various charities for more than 20 years.

Simultaneously he developed a second close love of working with trotters and pacers and developing Bob Sands Stables in the Meadowlands and Yonkers Raceway, training and driving 36 horses for more than 31 years throughout the Northeast. Bob built his reputation on rebuilding and strengthening injured horses or those not racing up to their potential. His kind and gentle but firm nature led to more than 100 wins over the years. Retiring in 2003 due to a racing injury, he turned his sights on coaching softball and baseball at the middle- and high-school level.

There will be no calling hours. A memorial service will be announced by the family at a later date. In support of Bob and his work, the family asks that any donations be made in his memory to High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Stables, 36 Town Rd., Old Lyme, CT 06371, or The Alzheimer’s Association (Mixed Dementia) at 19 Ohio St., Norwich, CT 06360. Bob’s cremains will be buried with Tina’s final cremains when the time comes in Middletown, New York, and they will be buried together, forever and always.