Deceased December 6, 2018
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In Memory
It is always sad to report these events but hardly surprising for a class that has reached its 70th reunion. Bob passed away peacefully after a short illness on Dec. 6 at age 94 in the company of family and friends.
He graduated from Lowell (Mass.) High School in 1942 and attended American International College in Springfield, Mass., for a year before joining the U.S. Army in 1943. He served as a medic on a troop transport ship, primarily in the Pacific.
After the war, he came to Amherst and was a member of the Lord Jeff Club. (I wonder what the College calls the club today, if there is such a designation.) On a blind date in his senior year, he had the great fortune to meet his future wife, Grace Paddock, who was a student at Mount Holyoke.
They married in 1952 and moved to Simsbury, Conn., in 1955. For most of his career, starting in 1950, Bob worked in the group marketing department of Aetna Insurance at the home office in Hartford until he retired in 1986.
He enjoyed the outdoors, photography and reading American history, and he was a railroad enthusiast. A family cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee was a longtime favorite for relaxation and a change of pace. In 2009 he and Grace moved to the RiverWoods retirement community in Exeter, N.H.
A longtime member of St. Albans Episcopal Church in Simsbury, he was noted for his friendliness, concern for others and devotion to Grace, who has suffered from a long illness. In addition to Grace, he is survived by three children and two grandchildren.
Gerry Reilly ’49