Robert Eisenmenger

Robert Waltz "Bob" Eisenmenger, 90, retired First Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and 35-year member of the Natick Planning Board, died May 24 following a short illness.
He leaves his wife of nearly 64 years, Carolyn Shaver Eisenmenger, three daughters, eight grand-children and a legacy of overseeing decades of collaborative problem solving at the Federal Reserve Bank and thoughtful planning in Natick.
Born in 1926 in New York City, the son of Walter and Emily Eisenmenger, Bob grew up in Amherst, where his father led the Department of Agronomy at the University of Massachusetts. He graduated from Amherst High School, served as a Navy radio technician in Pearl Harbor during World War II, and returned to earn an undergraduate degree in economics from Amherst College and a master's degree from the Yale School of Forestry.
Joining the US Forestry Service in Oregon, Bob spent several years doing everything from laying out forest roads to fighting forest fires to developing a timber appraisal system. It was work he spoke of fondly for the rest of his life.
Also in Oregon, he met and married Carolyn Shaver, a native of Saranac Lake, NY, who had also come West to work after college. Shortly after the couple's first daughter was born, the young family moved to Boston to allow Bob to attend graduate school in preparation for what he thought at the time would be a career with the Forestry Service in Washington, D.C.
But along the way to earning a Master's in Public Administration and Ph.D in economics from Harvard, Bob was hired by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as a research economist. Thirty-six years later, most of them spent as Director of Research, he would retire from the bank in 1992 as First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
His doctoral thesis was later published in book form, "The Dynamics of Growth in New England's Economy, 1870–1964."
"Bob is a superb administrator," wrote Frank Morris, former Boston Fed President in the bank's 1990 annual report. "His unique attribute is that he always viewed solving difficult problems as fun." Among those problems was designing a system to set specific prices on the services the Federal Reserve System charges member banks. Bob "thought that was the most fun of all," Morris said.
Following retirement, Bob undertook a series of consulting assignments, including work on banking reform for the Republic of Russia following the breakup of the Soviet Union and reviewing the payments system in Bosnia for the U.S. Treasury. Back home, he spent several years on the board of the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank – and threw himself into longtime work on the Natick Planning Board.
He and Carolyn had moved to Natick in 1955 because it was an attractive, affordable town at what was then the end of the commuter rail line. Elected to Town Meeting in 1964, he subsequently joined the Finance Committee, and successfully sought a seat on the Planning Board in 1973. Years later he explained to a reporter his decision to seek the seat: Concerned that Natick did not have a vision for guiding development and that the existing zoning code was not adequately enforced, "I decided either I was going to move or try to change things."
For Bob, Natick planning presented a way to join his forester's love of the natural world with his economist's love of solving tough problems. During 35 years on the Planning Board, he pushed "cluster development," in which more dense construction is allowed in return for broad swaths of open space. And he helped guide the evolution of an unsightly commercial strip along Route 9 into what is now Natick Mall and other retail developments.
By the time Bob stepped down from the board in 2007, it was estimated that he had attended 1,200 Planning Board meetings, been involved with 100 subdivision plans and, to quote a town proclamation, spent countless hours "meeting with property owners and stakeholders, knitting together agreements and compromises" to create a series of walking trails throughout the town. In recognition of this last effort, the public trail system extending from South Natick to Natick center is named the Eisenmenger Trail.
Other civic pursuits included several years on the New England Board of Higher Education where he was involved in the establishment of the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, a stint as a Natick library trustee, and membership in the Boston Economic Club, Natick Historical Society and the Natick Rotary Club. He was a longtime member of the First Congregational Church of Natick.
In his leisure time, Eisenmenger sailed, skied, traveled with his wife and grandchildren and tended to his much loved house on Woodland Street in Natick, where he and Carolyn lived for 50 years. At the time of death, he was living at Traditions of Wayland where, until very recently, he continued to enjoy weekly outings around the region.
He is survived by his wife Carolyn of Wayland; three daughters, Anne Eisenmenger and husband Patrick Lester of Wareham, Katherine "Kate" Eisenmenger of Lexington and Lisa Eisenmenger of Holliston; and eight grandchildren, Emil Peinert and Emily Peinert, both of Oakland, CA, Erik Peinert of Providence, RI, Audrey Eisenmenger Kaufman of Burlington, VT, Christopher Tobin of Seattle, Benjamin Tobin of San Francisco, Bella Tobin of Honolulu, and Harrison Tobin of Holliston.
Relatives and Friends are invited to attend a Service in Celebration of Bob's Life on Wednesday June 14 at 7:00 P.M. in the John Everett and Sons Funeral Home 4 Park Street,at Natick Common.
Visiting hours are on Wednesday beginning at 5:00 P.M. prior to the service.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in his memory to the Natick Historical Society 58 Eliot Street Natick MA 01760.
For directions and to send Bob' s family online condolences please visit www.everettfuneral.com