Obituary of Robert L. Taft

Robert LeRoy Taft died on January 9, 2017 at his home in Tionesta, where he had been lovingly cared for by his son-in-law, Tim Favreau and his granddaughter, Katrina Favreau.He was born on April 19, 1932 in Warren, Pa and was adopted several days later by Leslie and Lima Stillman Taft of East Hickory. They raised him there where he attended school and worked in the local sawmill. His job was to break up log jams while walking on the floating logs, even falling in once and coming up again with his cigar still lit. In 1949, Bob met the love of his life, Joan Carol McWilliams who he married on June 10, 1951. He served in the Army during the Korean Conflict and served at SHAPE Intelligence Headquarters in Paris. He graduated from Penn State with the help of the GI Bill and simultaneously supported his growing family by setting pins in a bowling alley and selling squirrel pelts he caught and dried on the porch of the trailer where they lived. Bob was a brilliant and ambitious guy who pursued work in the area of Physical Education and Business. His first job out of college was as his oldest daughter, Robin, elementary school gym teacher at Ben Franklin Elementary School in Indiana, PA. Many years later he taught graduate level studies in Physical Education at Keene State College in Keene, NH, where his son, Rick, was one of his students. Bob coached track and wrestling at Marion Center High School also serving as a teacher and Guidance Counselor there. Eventually returning to school at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he received his Master’s Degree in 1964. Again, Bob worked to support his family while attending school, and running the concession stand at Tionesta Dam during summer breaks. In 1967 Bob won a scholarship to pursue his Doctoral Degree at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he moved with his family. From there he accepted the position of Financial Aid Director at Keene State. He also served as coach of the cross country team. Bob’s work with this team became legendary as he inspired individuals and teams to levels of achievement not often seen in such a small school. Bob’s methods were unusual for the solitary sport of long distance running as he convinced his fastest runners to slow at the end of the race in order to allow slower members to cross the finish line as a team. He won Coach of the Year honors in the NESCAC many times and was eventually inducted into the KSC Hall Of Fame in recognition of his dedication to the success of these teams. Bob later served as the Athletic Director at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA. Throughout his life, Bob also found time for pleasurable pursuits. He was an avid reader and became an authority on the history of flight, and he owned every book he could find on the subject. His skills as a woodworker were seen in the homes he remodeled and later in the many furniture pieces owned by family members. His own unique style of using scrap wood to create intricate designs was truly remarkable. He was a grower of plants and collected extensive data to support the care of trees, shrubs and perennials in his immaculate gardens. His energies and skills were perhaps best seen in his building of extensive rock walls and a magnificent water fall and koi pond at his home in Tionesta. Bob was a “maker” needing always to busy his fine mind. He assembled beautiful model planes, and even wove afghans. He wrote about flight and plants and even completed most of his autobiography. He was a devoted fan of Penn State football, studying stats and never missing a game. Bob’s children are Robin Joan Gordon Taft who resides in Vermont with her husband Scott, Richard Stephen Taft who resides in Keene, NH with his son Manny Robert Taft, and Cynthia Ann Favreau who resides with her husband Tim in Titusville. His much loved grandchildren also include, Alicia Favreau of Seattle, WA, Jesse Clement of Queensland, Australia, Katrina Favreau of Titusville, Joseph Cesare of London, UK, and Nikyta Favreau also of Titusville. Bob was particularly grateful for Moira Violet Favreau, his first great grandchild, and as he said about her, “the hardest part of leaving this life.” Bob also found room in his heart for his nieces and nephews and their families; the children of his late sister-in-law Audrey Johnson, Karen Weber and husband Tom of Orlando, FL, Curtis Johnson of Buffalo, NY, Eric Johnson and wife Betz of NC, and Jenny McCleary and husband Bruce of Tulsa, OK. Bob’s busy life was made possible by his wife of 65 years, Joan Taft, who survives him. She was always the support person on the home front, whose world revolved around his. In later years, Bob would complete the circle of caring as he became her caregiver and was proud of his new found abilities to take on the tasks of caring for the two of them without her assistance. His worries for her future care were paramount to him as his abilities to care for her diminished in his final months. He found great comfort in knowing that his daughter Cindy and her family would continue to provide care for her. Bob was a brilliant, creative and energetic man whose gifts are left here in this world in many forms. The world is a better place for the time he spent here. There will be no public services. Internment of his cremated remains will take place at a later date, when at his request, his ashes will be comingled with those of his wife and divided for burial with his parents in Warren, PA and hers in Wolf’s Corners.