Dr. Robert Person Darrow

MENDON - Dr. Robert Person Darrow of Mendon died August 10, 2014 in his home, surrounded by his loving children. He was born August 14, 1922, to William H. and Ellen (Person) Darrow and grew up tending his father's apple orchard in Putney.

A graduate of the Putney School and Middlebury College, he earned his MD from Yale Medical School and served as a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps during World War II and the Korean conflict.

After completing his residency at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he moved his young family to Rutland, and in 1956 established his private practice in general surgery, seeing patients at his office, at the old Proctor Hospital, and in the operating rooms and emergency room of Rutland Hospital.

Dr. Darrow was widely recognized as a physician of exceptional talent, empathy and practicality, and was beloved by his patients and the community at large. He served as president of the Northeast Medical Association, the Rutland County Medical Society, the Rocky Mountain Traumatological Society, and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Vermont and was Chief of Surgery at Rutland Hospital. He was also a member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Board of Surgery, the New England Surgical Society, the Vermont State Medical Society, the Rutland County Medical Society, and the Rutland County division of the American Cancer Society and was active in the Rutland Chamber of Commerce and the Rutland Lions Club.

A lifelong outdoorsman, he was a four-event skier for Middlebury and served as medical adviser for the Killington Ski Patrol and the National Ski Patrol; he was a NASTAR racer from 1993 to 2003, placed in the high jump in the Senior Olympics and was a longtime member of both the Mendon Fish & Game Club and Weston's Wantastiquet Trout Club.

Dr. Darrow established a family tree farm in Shrewsbury, served as president of the Vermont Woodlands Association, and sat on the Vermont Current Use Advisory Board. He traveled widely throughout his life: to Malaysia with CARE-Medico; to the Alps, the Bugaboos and the American West for skiing; to Africa to band birds; to Iceland, the Galapagos Islands and Chile; on bike trips throughout Europe; and to just about any place where he could take his rifle for a walk or worry the local trout or salmon. A theater buff and emeritus member of the Killington Music Festival Board, he lunched regularly with the Mendon Seniors and the RODEOs.

Bob was predeceased by his wife of many years, Susan Ackerman Darrow, and is survived by his children Alison, Pamela, Bruce and Jeffrey, and by his loving companion Gillian Gaines of Shrewsbury.

A memorial service is planned and will be announced in a future edition of the Rutland Herald.

Arrangements are under the direction of Tossing Funeral Home.