Obituary for Robert Nicholas Salony: December 18, 1939 to August 4, 2025

Robert Nicholas Salony, 85, passed away August 4, 2025 after a  battle with melanoma cancer. Robert was born December 18, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. Robert served honorably in the Marines from 1957 to 1977 and did one tour of Viet Nam. There he fell into a booby trap and sustained injuries to his feet that would plague him all his life. He achieved the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant, the highest technical enlisted rank (E-9) in the United States Marine Corps.

Upon retiring from the military, Robert made a career in law enforcement. He was a sergeant at Cal State Pomona University but made the giant leap from Sergeant to Chief of Police at three college police departments in the San Mateo, California area. When his 2nd wife became ill, he resigned and hired on at Riverside Sheriff’s Office as a bailiff for the court system, a job he thoroughly enjoyed. When his second wife died, he married his now wife of almost 32 years, Sharon. 

When Robert was hit and injured in a car accident in 1994, he retired from law enforcement and he and Sharon moved to Gardnerville, Nevada, where they built and sold spec homes and became very successful.

Robert loved casinos, poker and the slots, responsibly “never betting the rent.” He loved guns and cars. To the end Robert had projects in progress or planned. He never let his age slow him down.

Robert is survived by three of his four children by first wife Barbara (deceased): Cyndal Bees (Jim) of Menifee, CA; Ronald (Maria) of Fontana, CA; Lala Salony of Lucerne Valley, CA; and son Russell (deceased); sister Helen Stallone of Staten Island, New York; 9 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren; and wife Sharon.

Burial will be with full military honors on August 19, 2025 at 1:45PM at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.