14 APR 1965--June 1, 2020
Early innovator in the streaming media industry, serial entrepreneur, patent holder, industry lecturer, avid surfer, outdoor enthusiast, sports and concert goer, and pinball champ, a great and hilarious lover of life, laughter, and friends, and most of all the best Dad in the world to his loving children Makayla and Spencer, Robert Klug passed away unexpectedly and way too soon at the age of 55 on Monday, June 1.

Born in Upland, California on April 14, 1965 to immigrant parents, his father Ezra Klug (1924-2014, Poland), a Holocaust survivor, and his mother, Alegre Gladys de Alcalay Klug (Panama), Rob was the youngest of four children and the baby brother to his three sisters Gwen, Judi and Lisa.Rob attended Montclair High School and graduated with a BS from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona in 1990.

As his sister describes Rob, growing up, "...was a wiry boy with a Dennis the Menace chutzpah and an awesome gingy Jewfro. And he knew, growing up, that he came from foreigners and foreign ways but refused to remain an outsider. Instead, he fuelled his fire into classic American pursuits: little league, baseball cards, pinball, computer games, skateboarding, comics, candy and more candy and taunting his bookish sister in a myriad of ways..." which made him the most incredibly fun father any child could ever ask for.He considered his children to always be the most important people in his life and always put them first. He took them on as many adventures as he could growing up and did Indian Princesses, Indian Guides, coach, teacher of all of his loves like karate, skiing, surfing, hiking, skate boarding, baseball, board games, pinball, video games, and the dog park.He was always there for every sport or event that his children participated in, and no matter when or where it was, they always came first.And most importantly, he was their best friend.

Always a lover of surfer and the ocean, upon graduation from Cal Poly Pomona Rob moved to Newport Beach where after a stint with AT&T (he often noted the logo's resemblance to the Death Star), he ventured out on his own and established Dedicated Hosting, the precursor to his ahead of its time, multi-award winning and multi-faceted company Streaming Media Hosting.Rob took his company from the upstairs bedroom of his Newport Beach house to a series of ever increasing offices in both size and scope in Orange County, eventually settling in Santa Ana where the company continues today.Over the years, SMH's scope has included not just hosting online content but also providing multiple online services including live event streaming for the likes of the Super Bowl, NASCAR, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, New York Power - Transit and Planning Authority, SIEMANS, Clear Channel, Caesars Entertainment, Adobe, Nokia Ozo, AMD, HTC Vive, Express Fashion, University of Southern California, and many, many others in business, education, government, faith, and entertainment.An early webcasting pioneer, SMH live streamed the San Gennaro Festival of Los Angeles from the backlot of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show as early as 2006!

In 2007, Robert wrote an Executive Vision of where the industry was going. It's not online, but it demonstrates the kind of foresight he had, as well as his passion for rock and roll: "Perhaps then, rather than history merely repeating itself, we will transcend history as we are freed from the constraints of time and space to interact in myriad ways. To quote the Who's Pete Townshend, a visionary of another historical epoch of unbridled optimism, we'll be able to access what we want "anyway, anyhow, anywhere we choose!" Then, in 2009, Robert's company won the Reader's Choice Award for Best Regional (North American) Delivery Network.

But Rob was of course much more than a talented entrepreneur.His love of an active life was reflected in his many, many pursuits.He loved "taking the waters": whether it was the ocean, a sea, a river, a pool, a hottub, a snow-capped peak, a hockey rink, or even a bubbling, delicious seltzer water on ice!He often combined his great love for surfing with travel, having surfed not only all over Southern California but also in far flung places such as Cabo San Lucas, Costa Rica and Biarritz, France, not unlike one of his great friends, business partner and mentor Robert August.When he was young, he was very active in the burgeoning skate board community in high school, being one of the first to skateboard in empty and abandoned pools.He also loved snow and water skiing, hiking in the Sierra Nevadas, San Gabriels, and deserts and rivers with close friends and family.He loved going to concerts and festivals with buddies including the 1983 US Festival, Coachella, and Desert Trip, (and LOTS of Foo Fighter shows), often somehow magically with free passes, somehow ending up right in front of the stage, or backstage, or even ON stage!He designed the merchandise for and sometimes appeared on KLOS-FM's Breakfast with the Beatles.He loved going on trips and staying in great hotels, going to huge conventions and often speaking.He endlessly loved food, just as happy with a fantastic, unique restaurant as he was with his beloved Del Taco, always customizing his order no matter what.He loved sports, often taking his children to events: endless Angel, Laker and Bruin games, tennis at Indian Wells, attending a couple Super Bowls, and even making a documentary about the 2007 Stanley Cup at the Pond, actually hoisting the Cup itself during the celebration.He loved pinball and video games, having made life-long friends from his first job at Starship Video in Upland right up until present where he owned a bevy of pinball machines and competed in pinball leagues and tourneys in So Cal, ranking at 1610th out of 80,000 players worldwide.

But most of all, he loved people, especially his vast network of friends and his loving family.He was the most gregarious, fun-loving, unpredictable, generous, and hilarious person his friends and family knew.He would engage people he had just met into exhilarating roller coaster rides of conversations, and would also always create unforgettable adventures out of simple get togethers and trips with family, friends, and most of all, his beloved and beautiful children, Makayla and Spencer.
Rob is survived by his wife Trace Klug, daughter Makayla, son Spencer, mother Alegre Klug, and sisters and their families-Gwen and Scott Korney and son Aron , Judie and Robert Chinskey and son Joshua, Lisa Alcalay Klug and his incredible friends that he considered family.In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to his GoFundMe page for his children: Robert Klug Memorial Fund.Rest in Peace, Baruch dayan haEmet.