Deceased February 14, 2021
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In Memory
Robert D. W. Landon II ’62 passed away in Naples, Florida, on February 14, 2021. He is survived by Peggy, his beloved wife of 55 years; son Robert D. W. Landon III ’89 (K. Keith); daughter Anne L. Dannacher (Gregor); grandchildren Kirby L. Johnson ’18 (Paul ’17), Claire H. Landon, Charles L. Dannacher, Caroline A. Dannacher; and his brothers Gregory C. Landon ’71 (Catherine) and Dr. Jeffrey C. Landon (Mary Jill).
Bob’s death came as a shock because he was enjoying life so much at the time. He was practicing law full-time at Dunwody White & Landon, the trusts and estates law firm he co-founded in 1995, with offices in Naples, Coral Gables and Palm Beach. He and Peggy recently cruised the warm waters of Southwest Florida aboard their boat Swell Rider and had spent Summer 2020 cruising Downeast Maine from their anchorage in Boothbay Harbor. Also in Summer 2020, he and Peggy joined other immediate family to attend the Annapolis, Md., wedding of his granddaughter Kirby ’18 to Paul S. Johnson Jr. ’17.
Bob was born in Binghamton, New York, to Eve Landon and Robert D. W. Landon ’37. There was little doubt he would attend Amherst if he were offered admission. At Vestal Central High School in Vestal, New York, Bob played trumpet in the concert and marching bands and was a strong student; he graduated as the class salutatorian. At Amherst, he was a member of Kappa Theta and continued to enjoy music by playing folk songs on the guitar and singing in the Glee Club, as had his father and as would his son. Traditional College songs such as Paige’s Horse were favorites, and he enjoyed singing with current students and alumni when he returned to the campus. Especially cherished memories were singing with his family in the audience at the end of the Glee Club Senior Recital in Spring 1989 and performing the national anthem before the Amherst-Williams Game in Fall 2014.
Bob majored in English, graduated with honors and received a superlative education that challenged him and made him enjoy learning all the more forever after. One first-year writing prompt he found particularly challenging read: “When you say, ‘I know what you mean.’ what do you mean? And what does the word ‘mean’ mean?” In later years, when his son and granddaughter would remark to him that Amherst professors sure wanted their students to read the text closely, he would dryly respond, “Tell me about it.”
Following college, Bob attended Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1965. Soon after graduating, he married Peggy, and he practiced law at Hancock Ryan Shove & Hust in Syracuse, New York, and later at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in Manhattan.
In 1973, he brought his family to Miami, Florida, where he was a partner in the law firms of Smathers & Thompson and Mershon Sawyer Johnston Dunwody & Cole, before he co-founded his own firm. For the last 25 years, he and Peggy had their primary residence in Naples, Florida. For the last 12 years, they summered in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Bob was active in the Amherst alumni groups in Miami and Naples over the years. He was the former Southwest Florida representative to the Harvard Alumni Association and a past president of the Harvard Club of Naples. He was recognized for his talent in trusts and estates law and a long-time member of the esteemed American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel (ACTEC). He also contributed to improving his local community, and his commitment to environmental protection through the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and to expanding healthcare access through the Foundation Committee of the NCH Healthcare System are just two examples of his heartfelt community engagement.
Bob was a loving husband and father and adored (and was adored by) his four grandchildren. He and Peggy took each grandchild on an adventure of her or his choice and design (to Europe, Northern California and the Galápagos Islands), and he made sure to attend their singing concerts, ballet recitals, sporting events, school Grandparents’ Days and graduations. He taught his children and grandchildren to love boating and how to operate watercraft from 14 feet to more than 35 feet. In the evening, he was known to enthrall them by playing the folk song Fennario on his guitar and convincingly singing the spurned lover’s warning to the fictional Peggy (as he surreptitiously winked to his true Peggy sitting behind the young folks), “If ever I return, all your cities I will burn!”
Bob made so many great memories for his family. As he wrote one grandchild in a letter that he meant to be read again (and again): “Family is great. If you are lucky, you have nice people to share important times like Christmas and Easter and birthdays and other experiences for a lifetime.”
Gregory C. Landon ’71, Robert D. W. Landon III ’89, Anne L. Dannacher and Kirby L. Johnson ’18