Deceased May 31, 2023
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IN MEMORY
Robert Walter Boden passed away peacefully on May 31, 2023, in a Cincinnati hospice, in the company of his family.
Bob grew up on Long Island and graduated from Garden City High School. At Amherst, he majored in English and history, lettered in tennis and squash, and graduated cum laude.
After earning an MBA from Harvard and serving three years as a finance officer in the U.S. Army, Bob launched a long, successful career as a business problem solver. He began as a consultant with McKinsey in Chicago, where he met and married Mary Melody Mauritz, a graduate of Wheaton who had started her career in advertising. Their first child, Andrew, was born in 1958; David and Martha followed by 1965. Then Bob sampled “big biz”—working at Steelcase in Michigan and Jostens in Minnesota.
Bob supported his children in their various athletic endeavors: tennis instructor, sailboat captain, accomplished equestrian. He also made sure they understood the importance of a hard day’s work, as all three held part-time jobs starting in junior high.
After owning several small businesses, Bob returned to business consulting, specializing in “turnarounds.” This led him to an opportunity with Cincom in Cincinnati, and he and Mary moved to Ohio. Bob served as a board member for Lighthouse Youth & Family Services and, for decades, the Cincinnati Opera.
After Mary died in 1996, Bob eventually met Marlene Baer at a Cincinnati opera event, and they married in 2001. Bob and Marlene built a wonderful life together, guiding and supporting their combined family, which included Marlene’s two sons, Michael and Jeffrey. Bob also treasured his five grandchildren: Andy’s daughter, Emma; Andy’s sons, Charlie and Spencer; and David’s daughters, Mariel and Alexa. Both Andy ’81 and Emma ’20 are Amherst graduates.
The Boden family and Rich Gray ’53