South Jersey real estate agent took business trip to Texas. It ended in tragedy
MANSFIELD – Robert “Rob” Montalbano had ambitious plans when he retired from a state job last year to work full-time in real estate sales.
With added income from home sales, the Mansfield man, 53, said in a recent interview, he’d cover college costs for his two children and one day buy a shore house for his family.
But Montalbano’s life was cut short in a boating accident in Texas earlier this month.
His death has spurred an outpouring of community support for Montabalno’s family, with a GoFundMe campaign — its goal set at $10,000 — collecting more than $68,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
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“He was a truly authentic person inside and out and my heart is breaking for his family and all of those who knew him,” Jennifer D’Alesandro, who worked with Montalbano at the Moorestown office of Keller Williams Realty, said in a Facebook post.
Boat accident fatal for Robert Montalbano
She and Montalbano, both among their office’s top performers with July sales of more than $1 million, were part of a group that had traveled to a Keller Williams program in Austin, Texas.
The trip ended in tragedy on Lake Travis, when a jet ski hit a pontoon boat carrying Montalbano, fatally injuring him.
“I feel fortunate to have spent the last couple of days with him having a group dinner, enjoying the piano bar … and spending the day with him on the lake talking about how we were going to start our real estate teams,” D’Alesandro said in the social media post.
A website for the “Mega Agent Camp” in Austin had offered “training, networking and culture” to help produce “more real estate millionaires than the industry has ever seen!”
The GoFundMe campaign, launched by a family member, sought to cover the costs of returning Montalbano's body from Texas and for a funeral.
Montalbano was a graduate of Northern Burlington County Regional High School and had attended Rutgers University.
He first worked for the state in the summer of 1987, taking a part-time maintenance job at the Juvenile Medium-Security Facility in Bordentown, according to the JJC website.
He retired in February 2022 as deputy executive director of programs for the state’s Juvenile Justice Commission.
“Rob was a beloved friend and colleague to so many people at the JJC,” said Jennifer LeBaron, the agency’s executive director, who worked with Montalbano for almost 25 years.
“Rob authentically cared about his colleagues, and he routinely showed his gratitude through gestures both big and small,” she said Tuesday.
“Even more importantly, Rob cared deeply about the young people in the JJC’s care,” she continued, adding “countless youth have been placed on the path to success as a result of his efforts.”
Jobs in youth corrections, real estate created long hours
Montalbano earned a real estate license in 2004 after learning about the field while flipping houses with a friend. He sold real estate as a part-time job while at the JJC, sometimes working more than 70 hours a week at his dual occupations.
But an obituary said Montalbano “made sure to make time for the things he loved.”
It noted his fondness for summer visits to Long Beach Island and skiing trips in the winter, as well as years spent coaching a youth baseball team.
In his recent interview — a Keller Williams production posted at the Moorestown office's Facebook page — Montalbano said he expected to keep a focus on real estate going forward.
"I aim to continue on for another 10 or 15 years,” he said.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Burlington County man Robert Montalbano killed in Texas boat accident
