Deceased December 2, 2012

View alumni profile (log in required)


In Memory

Bob died on Dec. 2, 2012, near his home in Orinda, Calif. He was one of two Amherst graduates assigned as my roommates at the University of Michigan Law School in the fall of 1951. Following his graduation in 1954, Bob practiced law in Detroit and soon became a highly successful trial lawyer.

He stated as follows in our 35th reunion book: “Trial law appeared to be my forte, and fortunately I proved to be good at it. Twenty-five years went whizzing by, in the process of which I acquired my own firm, made a lot of money and had a wonderful time.”

Bob retired in 1980 and moved to Florida, where he bought a house on the beach and began to learn tropical gardening. He continued to pursue his passion for bridge and became a Life Master. In 1995 Bob moved to the San Francisco area, where he had always dreamed of living. During his entire life he enjoyed traveling. From the capitals of Europe to the smallest villages in the Swiss Alps, from the pyramids of Egypt to the fjords of New Zealand, Bob wanted to experience the world. During his later years he loved Cunard cruises and was thrilled to have been a bridge instructor on the QE2. Several weeks before his death Bob returned from a transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hobie Cleminshaw ’51