Robert M. Duchow

1936 - 2021

Rev. Robert Martin Duchow, 84, of Westerlo, N.Y., a retired Lutheran pastor, died Friday, June 11, 2021, in Farmington, where he had lived with his son and daughter-in-law for the last four years. Bob was born September 9, 1936, in Hudson, N.Y., the oldest child of Rev. Martin and Julia Anderson Duchow. He graduated from West Hartford's William H. Hall High School in 1953, Concordia Junior College, Bronxville, N.Y., in 1955, and Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Mo., in 1960, and was ordained as a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. On July 9, 1960, Bob married Bonnie Ruth Reister in her hometown of Grandville, Mich. She died August 9, 2017. During his career, Bob pastored churches in Youngstown, Ohio, Chardon, Ohio, Manchester, N.H., Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Stamford, N.Y., and Hurley, N.Y., and served on several boards and committees of the LCMS's Central, Ohio, Atlantic and New England Districts. Bob also worked for AT&T and for the U.S. Census Bureau. As a teenager, Bob delivered more than 100 newspapers daily for the Hartford Times, earning a $3,000 Frank Gannett Newspaperboy Scholarship. Bob was active in the Westerlo Historical Society, was the Westerlo Town Historian for several years, served on the boards of the Helderberg Christian School and the Westerlo Senior Center, and delivered Meals on Wheels. Bob researched his genealogy back 12 generations in America; loved to worship his Lord Jesus, and the hymns and history of the Lutheran Church; and was an lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox and Hartford Chiefs. Bob is survived by three sons, Martin C. (Deborah Taylor) of Unionville, Conn., Frederick G. (Michelle) of Garland, Texas, and Robert A. (Emily) of Bakersfield, Calif.; two brothers, Gilbert (Linda) of Muskego, Wis., and Marvin (Darlene) of Chemainus, British Columbia; a sister, Carol (Joel) Gurin of Silver Spring, Md.; seven grandchildren, Shelby (Paul) Giokas, Zachary (Jacque), Elizabeth, Christian, Catherine, Gabriel and Ella; and a great-grandson, Andrew Robert Giokas. He was predeceased by his brother, Paul, in 2017. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 12 at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 186 Main St., Cairo, N.Y. Calling hours will be from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 11 at A.J. Cunningham Funeral Home, 4898 State Route 81, Greenville, N.Y. Burial will be in the family plot at Westerlo Rural Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Resurrection Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 563, Cairo, N.Y. 12413, or Westerlo Public Library, P.O. Box 267, Westerlo, N.Y. 12193. Full obituary and condolence page is available at AJCunninghamFH.com.