Alvin Robert Bob Blattner

Alvin Robert
    Bob Blattner
     SCARBOROUGH -- Alvin Robert Bob Blattner, of South Portland, died peacefully March 30, 2007, at the Maine Veterans Home after a brief illness. He was a survivor of recurrent prostate cancer and had more recently been fighting bladder cancer and dementia.
     Bob was born Dec. 29, 1922, in Cairo, Egypt, a son of Robert Blattner, a successful international businessman, and Marguerite Blattner (nee Bialobos). He left Egypt at a young age and grew up with his family in Italy and Switzerland until moving to the U.S. where he attended preparatory school and college. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Industrial Design in 1947 after a two year interruption for military service.
     Between April 1943 and December 1945 Bob served honorably in the 28th Fighter Group of the U.S. Army. Because he was multilingual and familiar with European culture, he filled a valuable role as an interpreter and cultural advisor for senior staff in Central Europe, France, Rhineland, and Africa. These proved to be particularly formative years of his life which he reflected upon until his death.
     Following graduation and military service, Bob worked in a series of corporate settings including Price Brothers, Corn Products Company (now CPC International), Chemico, Stone and Webster Engineering, and Foster Wheeler Energy which leveraged his vast intellect and practical skills in design and translation to a variety of business applications. In his latter career he became a self employed technical consultant also affiliated with Continental Translation Services of New York.
     Bob enjoyed an eclectic range of intellectual and artistic interests. He had a life long love of language, classical music, art, and history and retained encyclopedic knowledge in these areas until shortly before his death. He traveled extensively through Europe the Middle East, and North Africa. His dry sense of humor, sharp powers of observation, and unique sense of satire and wit made him a provocative conversationalist and self appointed commentator on the human condition.
     Surviving and remembering Bob are his children, Dr. Stephen Blattner of Cape Elizabeth and Marguerite Blattner of San Diego, Calif.; his grandchildren Zachary David Blattner and Arielle Faye Blattner; his daughter-in-law, Dr. Francine Blattner. In addition, he is warmly remembered by the compassionate staff of the Maine Veterans Home and many friends at Bay Square of Yarmouth where he resided for the past several years. He was predeceased by his youngest son, David; and his elder brother, Lionel; as well as a sister, Dulcy, who died in infancy.
     A funeral service will be held on April 5 at 1 p.m., at the Levey Chapel, 471 Deering Avenue, Portland. Arrangements by The Jewish Funeral Home.
    In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to:
    Maine Veterans Home
     290 U.S. Route 1
     Scarborough, Maine 04074