Robert Douglas Eilertsen

Robert "Rob" D. Eilertsen, 69, of Trumbull, CT, beloved husband of Barbara (Noble) Eilertsen, passed away peacefully at home on November 26, 2025. Rob was born in Huntington, NY, on April 15, 1956, a son of the late Bobb Eilertsen and Margaret Wesnofske. Rob grew up in Northport, NY, and graduated from Northport High School. While in high school, he met and befriended an auto mechanics teacher whose mentorship and expertise helped shape the course of his adult life.
After leaving Northport, Rob moved to Westport, CT, where he became a certified service technician at Norwalk Honda and later a production manager at Baldwin Technologies in Shelton, CT. Following his work at Baldwin, Rob became self-employed as a direct jobber for Amsoil, a product he had used and trusted for many years. Rob spent the next 25 years devoted to Amsoil. He took great care to develop a personal style of salesmanship based on visiting customers in person. Through this approach, he built a devoted group of clients whom he knew well and genuinely cared about. Every fall, he filled his garage with gallons of apple cider to be hand-delivered with bagels and cream cheese to his clients.
He was a grateful and gracious man. To know Rob was to know his passion for restoring motorcycles-especially Japanese models-and automotive vehicles. His innate understanding of how machinery worked, coupled with his high standard of perfection, resulted in an ongoing collection of pristine vehicles. He was mechanically brilliant and a gifted problem solver. Rob was an introvert by nature and did not mind time alone. He could ride for hours with nothing but the road for company. Problem-solving was often done with the help of books and quiet thinking time. He wasn't staring into space-he was putting together a carburetor, something most extroverts cannot fathom.
Rob's other passions centered on healthful living. He avoided white sugar, white flour, and preservatives of any kind. Food shopping was often time-consuming and educational. Rob was physically fit and regimented about his workouts. He loved being outdoors, especially riding an ATV through the trails of Vermont with his dear friend, Don. He was seldom cold and preferred sleeping outdoors by a fire to sleeping indoors with a furnace. Rob was a true gentleman with a soft spot for the elderly and for anyone in need of help. He would lend a hand without being asked-whether shoveling someone's walk, helping someone move, or taking packages from someone's arms. Acts of spontaneous kindness were a simple and lovely part of his character.
In 2023, Rob began showing signs of memory loss and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia the same year. Over the next two years, he lost the ability to do most of the things that had given him purpose and joy. It was a sad and steady decline, this terrible disease. Rob is survived by his daughter, Emily (Eilertsen) Dilthey and her husband George of Stamford, CT, and his half-brother, Craig Longobardi, of Bayshore, NY. He was predeceased by his loving sister, Debra (Eilertsen) Grady, of Belfast, ME.
A gathering of friends and family will be held on Sunday, November 30th at 12:30 at Brewport Brewing Co, 225 South Frontage Road, Bridgeport CT. For more information, visit https://brewportct.com/.
Memorial contributions can be made to ElderHouse Adult Day Center at 7 Lewis Street, Norwalk CT - https://elderhouse.org/.