Deceased August 21, 2020
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In Memory
Bob Crossland died unexpectedly of natural causes on Aug. 21 in Manassas, Va., where he lived with his wife of 40 years, Janine.
Though not a “reunion regular,” Bob will be remembered for his gentle, often bemused, presence. He was a quiet guy but not “shy quiet” or uninvolved. Those who knew him—as a fellow Stearns resident our freshman year and in the AD house later on—recall his love of photography and music.
After Amherst, Bob pursued his passion for photography, as a practitioner and—to help pay the bills—managing a camera shop in Philadelphia, where I reconnected with him briefly.
As his obituary tells us, “Bob always had a passion for helping people, and he found a vehicle for that passion in his career as an insurance agent. Bob worked for Prudential, Nationwide, Morgan Stanley, Rich Insurance Agency and Capital Group Benefits before finally starting his own business, Crossland Insurance, in 2009. In his own words, he was known as ‘the benefits guy’ and had a reputation as a compassionate problem-solver. … Whenever asked if he was going to retire, he said he would when he ‘stopped having fun.’”
Some will recall Bob’s brother Fred ’74, who died from complications of ALS in the mid-’90s. After this, Bob joined the Dale City Masonic Lodge, where he found solace and fellowship. Bob was inducted as the Worshipful Master of the Lodge for the year 2000, and he went on to serve as the Lodge’s secretary for 20 years.
Please join me in sending condolences to his wife, Janine; his daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Matthew MacFarland; and his son, Thomas, and Thomas’s fiancée, Mackenzie King.
Fittingly, Bob’s family asks that you play your favorite Beatles song in his honor.
Dan Lundquist ’76