Robert Lee Brown, 90, of Highland
A kind and gentle soul has left us, but his spirit remains with us always. Robert Lee Brown passed away peacefully at home on Feb. 18, 2017, at the age of 90 after a full and rewarding life.
Robert was born May 14, 1926, at home to Effie (Swanson) Brown and Richard Brown in Twelve Mile, Indiana, a closeknit farm community. He had three brothers and was one of nineteen first cousins. He grew up during the Great Depression and attended Twelve Mile School from 1st to 12th grade. After graduating in 1944, he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II and epitomized the greatest generation in his humility, sense of commitment, generosity, and fixing/not replacing mentality.
After his honorable discharge in 1946, he was fortunate to attend Purdue University on the GI Bill. He graduated in 1950 with honors in Electrical Engineering and landed a job with IBM as a Customer Engineer in Chicago. After a brief stint in Chicago and training in Binghamton, N.Y., he transferred in the mid-1950s to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he worked as an Electrical Engineer in the IBM laboratory on various development projects. In January 1968, he took an assignment at the IBM European Headquarters in Nice, France, as the power supply liaison to the European laboratories. In May 1971, he returned to the states, where he worked in Kingston, N.Y., on many IBM projects (including the IBM 3270 Personal Computer) until his retirement in May 1990.
Shortly after his arrival in Poughkeepsie, Bob started to ski, a hobby which became a passion. He was active in the Hudson Valley Ski Club, taught First Aid, and became an amateur instructor. He joined the ski patrol and in 1966 was awarded an appointment as National Patrolman No. 3045 by the National Ski Patrol System. He patrolled for 40 years and in 2008 was recognized as a Lifetime Member of the National Ski Patrol System.
In November 1968, Robert married Cynthia Parsons in Fishkill, N.Y., and she joined him in France, where they spent the first two and a half years of their marriage residing first in Nice, and later in VillefrancheSur-Mer. Their pursuits while on assignment included skiing, sailing on the Mediterranean, and touring many European countries. Their daughter, Kirsten Leigh, was born in December 1970 in Nice and they returned stateside in May 1971, settling in Hyde Park, N.Y., where they lived for 42 years. Their daughter, Erica Anne, was born in March 1973. From toddlerhood on, the girls skied the slopes of Highmount in the Catskills with Dad as their instructor. In 1978, the family bought their lakehouse on Friends Lake in the Adirondacks, which they enjoyed year-round. Today his four grandsons and their parents continue to enjoy the lakehouse. In addition, Bob enjoyed annual fall pilgrimages to the coast of Maine with his wife.
Bob was also active in lake associations both in Hyde Park and Friends Lake, and was a member of the Conservation Advisory Committee for Hyde Park. Bob joined the local Man-to-Man Prostate Cancer Support Group in 1995 and drove cancer patients to their treatments for many years. In April 2013, Robert and his wife moved to Vineyard Commons in Highland, N.Y., a 55+ community where they made many new friends and enjoyed a maintenancefree lifestyle.
Robert was predeceased by his parents and his older brother, Carl.
He is survived by his two brothers, Richard and Jerry, Jerry’s wife Elaine; and as well by his wife, Cynthia; his two daughters, Kirsten and Erica, their husbands, respectively, Tod Raeber and Jon Mitchell; and four grandsons, Nathaniel and Joshua Raeber, and Christopher and Augustus Mitchell. In addition, Bob is survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins. In May 2015, Bob made his last visit to Indiana and enjoyed seeing many family members.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at noon at the restaurant at Vineyard Commons in Highland, N.Y. Bob’s cremated remains will be interred privately in a family plot at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Hudson Valley Hospice, 400 Aaron Court, Kingston, N.Y. 12401; the Bardavon/Hudson Valley Philharmonic, 11 Cannon St., Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 12601; or a charity of your choice.
Arrangements are by the Michael Torsone Memorial Funeral Home Inc., 38 Main St., Highland, N.Y. 12528.
For online condolences or to send the family a sympathy card, please visit our website at www. torsonememorial.com.