Bobby Vee Has Passed Away

The pop music icon, Robert Thomas Velline"Bobby Vee" died on Monday from complications with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 73-years-old. He was known as an icon to many fans all over the world and was involved in many charitable causes in Central Minnesota.

He was in hospice care for the last 13 months for his life at The Wellstead of Rogers & Diamondcrest, which is a memory care facility. It had been a struggle for Vee to live at the facility with the disease.

Tommy Velline, his son, commented that among all the sadness, there is a sense of relief that he is no longer living in that “hell”. The oldest son, Jeff Velline spoke of Vee’s grace in the horrible condition he was in for so long. Vee’s primary physician and close friend, Dr. Rick Rysavy spoke of his passing as a type of blessing, in that he did not have to suffer any longer.

Bobby Vee’s real name was Robert Thomas Velline. The masculine name Robert is taken from the name Hrodebert in German and means “bright flame”. Whereas his stage name Bobby is a diminutive of Bob, which is short for Robert.

There are many notable people with the name Robert, from Robert I the Duke of Normandy to The King of Naples. Not to mention all the fictional characters with the name, like Robert Langdon the cryptologist and symbologist from Dan Brown’s novels or Robert Barone from the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”.