Robert Columbia

Robert J. Columbia, 36, of Great Kills, a devoted family man, died Saturday in Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, of complications of kidney failure.

Born in Brooklyn, he moved with family to Great Kills as a boy in 1987.

Mr. Columbia graduated from Susan Wagner High School, Sea View, where he played both baseball and football.

He worked as a salesman for Time Warner Cable.

After being diagnosed with kidney disease, Mr. Columbia started an online campaign to try to find a donor kidney. He also created a foundation through a program called RJ Donatelife to raise awareness about organ donation.

He had a passion for sports and his favorite teams were the New York Mets and the Dallas Cowboys. He also took pleasure in fishing and playing poker. But his greatest joy was spending time with his wife and daughter, family said.

Surviving Mr. Columbia are his wife of four years, Nicolle; his daughter, Giuliana Columbia; his parents, Robert and Jean Columbia; his brother, Joseph, and his sisters, Jennifer and Gina Columbia.

The funeral will be Thursday from the Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home, Tottenville, with a mass at 9:45 a.m. in St. Clare's R.C. Church, Great Kills. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.

Services: St. Clare's RC Church Thursday, September 5,2013 9:45AM

Visitation: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Tuesday, September 3,2013 & Wednesday, September 4,2013 2-4 & 7-9PM

Cemetery: Resurrection Cemetery (Staten Island)

Location: Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home

Church: St. Clare's RC Church