ROBERT grew up in Wellesley, MA, and graduated from Wellesley HS in 1978.  His dad was a flutist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Robert spent his young life surrounded by musicians. He took up the trumpet at age 7 and bass guitar at 14 and excelled quickly.  In high school, he played with a rock group that toured New England and other states. He played trumpet for the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, which toured many European cities. He attended college at the New England Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1982 as a trumpet major. 

 

 

As he matured, he realized that the true life of a musician was very pressured, competitive, and cutthroat.

 

His “aha” moment came when he was competing against a close friend at an audition. He was awarded the first trumpet position and later saw his friend crying in the other room who auditioned but wasn’t accepted. 

 

“A switch went off,” Robert explained. “I realized I was taking parts away from other talented people/friends who wanted them.” 

 

He had always been interested in aerodynamics and got a pilot’s license in high school. During college, he built up enough flying hours that by graduation, he had a pilot’s job waiting. 

 

In 1992, he took a job with World Airways, based in the Washington-Dulles area, and flew a MacDonald Douglas MD-11, a 412-passenger aircraft, around the world. For the past 25 years, he has worked for Atlas Air, flying and teaching the Boeing 747, based in Miami, from where he recently retired.

 

During his last flight on January 12, 2024, Robert was honored by the Miami International Airport and received a Water Cannon Salute. He also received a formal sendoff from the control towers from Bogota, Colombia, South America, to Miami, Florida, with the Miami Tower, honoring him with a formal congratulatory sendoff for a long and successful career. 

 

Along with his best friend and Ibis resident David Bourne, who happened to be the Master Executive Council Chairman for the Airlines Pilots Association, he negotiated the first contract for Atlas Air.

 

David and Maureen Bourne introduced Robert to Ibis. Robert rented for two years before buying on Ibis Isle in 2021.

 

Robert has two grown children, Robert Grass Jr. (26) and Emily Grass (23), both of whom live in Texas and are successful.

 

 

JULIE is from Barranquilla, Colombia, South America, where she attended Karl C Parrish bilingual private American School from 3 through high school. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from La Universidad del Norte in 1993. Her first job was teaching first grade in a private bilingual school, and she then moved to the Learning Disabilities Department.

 

“I became very interested in working with young children with learning disabilities and seeing the problems their families had. I liked helping them overcome their problems,” 

 

Through her work in the field, she learned of an International Program at the University of Miami with Postgraduate Studies in Developmental Disorders. She applied and was accepted, but because she was married with two young children and had no student visa at the time, she spent the year commuting back and forth between Barranquilla, Colombia, and Miami. 

 

Upon graduation, not only did she earn four postgraduate certificates in Developmental and Learning Disorders, but she also caught the eye of one of her professors, Dr. Jorge Herrera, who was one of the top two neuropsychologists in Florida and on the board of the University of Miami at the time. 

 

He offered to sponsor her and to give her a job at the Neuropsychological Institute of Miami, where interns out of medical school are trained to evaluate adult and child patients.  

 

She emigrated to Florida with her two daughters and worked at the Institute for several years before getting her green card and becoming a full US citizen. 

 

Like Robert, however, her life took a few unexpected turns. While working with Dr. Herrera, she started dabbling in real estate. She got a Florida real estate license and specialized in condominium sales within a one-mile radius of Sunny Isles, where she lived. 

 

And then another twist. When her younger daughter Paola was accepted to the University of Chicago, Julie relocated to live near her when she was in school. “This was part of her culture,” Robert explained, to protect her daughter as she was still too young.  

 

While in Chicago, Julie got her Illinois real estate license and, within a few months, was featured in the Chicago Magazine as a five-star rising professional. “I developed a system where I worked with banks, knew the different programs they offered, networked with mortgage bankers, and guided clients through finding homes.” Soon, multiple banks were feeding her clients. She loved Chicago…. the seasons, the snow, and the people, and “being treated with respect as a real estate professional.”

 

Five years passed quickly, and her daughter graduated college, and they relocated back to Florida. 

 

TOUGH TIME. COVID HITS. 

 

This was a tough time for Julie. There was nothing to fill the void of the professional life she had in Illinois. She eventually decided to create the same concept in Florida that she had in Chicago. She walked into banks, spoke to managers, networked with bankers and mortgage brokers, and started re-creating the model she had in Chicago.

 

But then COVID hit. No one was working at the banks, no one was showing homes, nothing was selling, and nothing was being listed, and she was getting depressed.

 

Her closest friends lived in Miami and Fort Lauderdale while she was away. She didn’t have a significant other, and she found that many of the men she dated did not have the same traditional values and morals she had grown up with. 

 

FATE STEPS IN 

 

It must have been fate. One day, she planned to meet girlfriends at La Rosa Restaurant in Miami. The same day, Robert and a few pilot friends were there. They sat at adjacent tables, and by the end of lunch, they were all talking.  Rob slipped his card to Julie as they were leaving.  Rob called Julie the next day. 

 

It took four months for them to meet again in person. 

 

Julie had her doubts. Robert explained that he was in a workaholic stage of his life, working seven days a week, teaching new pilots in a simulator, and flying all over the world.

 

But when they finally did meet again, they soon became inseparable. 

 

They fell in love, and Julie moved to Ibis to be with Robert in July 2022.

 

 

ROBERT: “We play tennis together, ride our bikes together, travel together, meet each other’s families, spend all holidays together, and include our kids during each holiday, etc. We are planning to get married in the near future. We both are very happy and thankful we met. 

 

We have wonderful neighbors and have met incredible Ibis residents who have extended warm friendships.

 

JULIE: Coming from Barranquilla, Colombia, which has the second largest carnival after Brazil, she loves parties, costumes, dressing up, and live music. She has already set up an Ibis Isle Only Resident Facebook page and has run two successful block parties for residents in Ibis Isle neighborhood. 

 

Her daughters, Julie Andrea (31) and Paola (26), are grown and doing well. Julie works for Signature International Real Estate and is considering going back to school to get her Master's in Educational Psychology. 

 

She looks forward to joining committees and becoming more involved in Ibis. 

 

“So many people have dogs here. We should have dog parties!!”