Bob attended a one room schoolhouse for the first eight years of his education. He remembered feeding the pot-bellied woodstove to keep the schoolhouse warm in the wintertime. As a first and second grader, he would listen to the lessons of the seventh and eighth graders, and always felt that his education was enhanced because of it. Bob and his siblings would ski to school during the snowy winters of the 1930’s, and as a result, he became an accomplished skier at an early age.

Growing up on a farm, Bob learned lessons in animal care (horses, dairy cows and chickens), gardening, orchard maintenance, construction, timbering, and hard work. He used all of the skills learned on the farm throughout his life.

Bob was very proud of his Scandinavian heritage, his grandparents having emigrated to the US from Sweden. The family’s Christmas Eve smorgasbord at their farmhouse was a highlight of each year.

Bob attended Nute High School, and then transferred to Lynn English in MA, where he graduated in 1948. After a “gap year” (during which he worked in a shoe shop to earn money for college), he was accepted at the University of New Hampshire where he studied English and joined the ROTC program. He was a “three event” member of the UNH Ski team, competing in Alpine, Nordic, and Ski Jumping events. He continued to support UNH Skiing throughout his life.

Upon graduation from UNH in 1952, Bob entered the USAF pilot training program in Texas, and qualified to fly F86 Sabre Jets. He and his jet fighter squadron won many gunnery and formation flying events. Also in 1952, Bob married his first wife, and they embarked on adventures around the world and throughout the US.

Bob and his wife were stationed in Japan early in their marriage, and Bob flew Sabre Jets in and out of Korea. Later in his career, Bob flew KC-135s in Vietnam.

Along the way, Bob had three daughters. They owned a grocery store, a race horse, and Bob served as the Golf Professional at the Rochester Country Club, teaching the game of golf and competing in golf tournaments throughout New England.

Bob completed his flying career as Commander of the NH Air National Guard at Pease AFB in Newington, NH, retiring in 1986. It was there that he met and married his second wife.

Throughout his life, Bob was a voracious reader of biographies, history, and adventure books. He had a collection of first edition hunting and fishing books, which he treasured. He completed a daily crossword puzzle and had a razor sharp vocabulary.

Bob enjoyed an extraordinarily full retirement. He joined Kingswood Golf Club in Wolfeboro, NH, playing daily rounds of golf. He hunted deer, fished on Lake Winnipesaukee, and in the winter, he would XC ski 10-15 miles per day, taking in the great beauty and majesty of NH’s Lakes Region. He joined the Wolfeboro Rotary Club, and he was influential in the restoration of the Ellis Hatch Wildlife Management Area and Jones Pond in Brookfield, NH. He and his second wife travelled many times to Alaska to fish for salmon, as well as exploring Europe and Canada. They made an annual fly fishing trip to Grant’s Kennebago Camps in Northern Maine.

Despite his far-flung travels in life, Bob loved New Hampshire and was happiest when at home, reading a good book by his woodstove.

The family has been struck by how many people have come forward to say they had been mentored by Bob over the years. He taught friends and their children to ski, play golf, and cast a fly rod. He mentored his staff at the NH Air National Guard, inspiring them to excel at whatever they set out to accomplish in life.

Published in Portsmouth Herald/Foster’s Daily Democrat/Seacoast Sunday, January 05, 2023