Robert A. Labdon Sr.

ST. LOUIS — Robert Labdon Sr., passed away on Veteran's Day. Robert, son of Oswald William Labdon of London, England, and Florence Jane Arnold of St. Johns, Newfoundland, was born in Boston, graduated from West Newton High School and attended Admiral Bullard Academy in New London, Conn. While at Bullard, Bob was an avid sailor, accomplished tennis player, and on the football and baseball teams.

At the start of World War II, he attempted to join the Navy, but was rejected when it was determined he was color blind. Undeterred, he had a friend signal him the correct colors and went to sea with the U.S. Merchant Marine. Bob served in the engine room of ships in the North Atlantic convoys to England and Russia. His favorite of many stories was his attempt to smuggle a large quantity of nylon stockings onboard ship, hopefully to gain the attention of English ladies. Hidden in the engine room, they became soaked in oil when the convoy came under attack. He spent the rest of the crossing trying to salvage them. He never did divulge whether his stocking caper ever bore fruit — but then Bob was always the ultimate gentleman.

While on leave in Falmouth, Bob met Priscilla Proctor of West Roxbury and they soon married. As the war wound down, Lt. Labdon began teaching diesel engineering at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. Characteristically, he decided to relocate his new wife from Falmouth in the family's 18-foot Cape Cod knockabout. Lost at night in the fog off Point Judith, R.I., they beached the boat, taking refuge in the back seat of an unlocked Packard. As the story goes, this was the genesis of Bob Jr. Their first year they lived aboard their 42-foot ketch, the Sea Love, in Port Jefferson harbor before settling to raise a growing family. During his 12 years at the USMMA, Bob coached the very successful sailing team, became chairman of the diesel department, and was promoted to lieutenant commander, but was unable to convince the administration that the future of the maritime industry was diesel and not steam power. To the day he died, Bob blamed the failure to make a timely transition to diesel power a major reason for the decline of the U.S. merchant fleet.

In 1956, Bob, Cilla and their three children, Bob Jr., Alex, and Martha, moved inland to St. Louis which was home to Federal Barge Lines. A private company moving freight on nearly all the navigable waterways, he became chief port engineer. He was instrumental in the development and commissioning of the M/V United States and the M/V America, the two most powerful towboats in the world. With little time and so far from an ocean, he relaxed by puttering around the family's beloved farm in Auxvasse, Mo.

In 1981, Bob retired as acting president of FBL, but returned in 1982 for the christening of the M/V Bob Labdon; a 150-foot, 6,000 hp towboat still plying the Mississippi. Full retirement was fleeting, however, as he was asked to help launch the nation's ready reserve fleet. After moving back to West Falmouth, Bob spent the next several years traveling the globe, locating merchant ships for the reserve fleet. Mothballed near Norfolk, Va., they were soon pressed into service during the first Gulf War. When not on sea trials, Bob tended his lobster traps on the Cilla and sailed the New England coast on his son's old wooden sloop, Camelot.

After the death of Priscilla, Bob married Ruth Bauer of St. Louis, and after a stint in Hilton Head, moved back to Missouri where he resided until his death. Always charming to the ladies, Bob will always be remembered as a man's man. Checking the cut of a sail or the rumble of an engine, the water was his element. Hard work, personal responsibility, take care of your own, and don't depend on the government, were the rules he lived by. He was a true member of the "greatest generation."

Bob leaves behind his wife, Ruth, and extended Bauer family, Robert and Jane Labdon Jr. of Brewster, Alex and Laurie Labdon of Raleigh, N.C., and Martha and Mark Amabile of St. Augustine, Fla. He also leaves his grandchildren, Laurel Labdon of Brewster, Justin and Jill Labdon of Sandwich, Jessica Jova and Daniel Labdon of Raleigh, N.C.; and great-grandchildren, Haley and Zoe of Sandwich.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Alzheimer's Association, 1-800-272-3900.