Deceased February 26, 2023
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in memory
My husband, Robert, known at Amherst as Bob, loved life and lived it with energy and passion. He died of a brief illness shortly after turning 80.
After White Plains High School and Amherst, Robert went to the University of Chicago Law School and embarked on a career of advancing the public good. For two years, he taught underprivileged eighth-graders in Harlem, N.Y. He then directed the office that evaluated how well the programs of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare were doing.
After returning our car to the auto repair shop three times because it kept breaking down within a mile or two after he’d picked it up, Robert, the evaluator, had a vision: There should be a Consumer Reports-type organization that rates service providers.
With a startup grant from Consumer Reports, supported by its board chair and Amherst professor Colston Warne, Robert established the nonprofit Center for the Study of Services. The center publishes unbiased, research-based ratings of everything from plumbers to veterinarians to hospital emergency rooms in seven metropolitan areas and does national patient surveys and ratings of health plans and medical providers.
Robert loved playing pickup basketball and, later, tennis. He painted watercolors, gardened, liked hiking and canoeing and, with friends Penny and Jim Guest ’62 and me, made many foreign travels. With persistence and goodwill, Robert led the revitalization of a public park and other community projects near us on Capitol Hill.
In 2022, Robert and I hosted a weekend gathering of 10 Amherst classmates, plus spouses / significant others. The camaraderie, memories and fellowship were great fun and underscored Amherst’s lasting impact.
Greatest of all, Robert and I raised two extraordinary children, Alex and Anna, who, with their mates and children, have brought us unbelievable joy. A good life well lived.
Gayle Krughoff