Ret. Chief Robert Keldgord

1930 - 2021

Ret. Chief Robert Keldgord
October 24, 1930 - July 10, 2021
Walnut Creek, California - Sacramento Criminologist, Probation Chief Dies
Robert E. Keldgord, a criminologist who served from 1978-1995 as Sacramento's Chief Probation Officer, and from 1979-1999 on the Criminal Justice faculty at CA State University-Sacramento, died on July 10, 2021 in Walnut Creek, California.
A native of Fresno, he was born in 1930 to Hetty Soule Keldgord and Clarence Keldgord. He received a bachelor's degree from the UC Berkeley and a master's degree in criminal justice from San Jose State.
He served as Chief Probation Officer, Tucson, Arizona; Program Director for the CA State Board of Corrections; Program Director for the Bay Area Social Planning Council; California Director for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency; Supervising Probation Officer for the Alameda County Probation Department; and as a radio announcer in the East Bay. He was a member of the San Francisco Press Club.
He served as a Military Police Captain during the Korean War. From 1972-2002, he also maintained a private practice as a consulting criminologist in 18 states.
In 1952, he married his college sweetheart, Norma Clausen, who survives him. He is also survived by his son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, four grandchildren, and two great grandsons.
Bob was a long time member of Congregational Churches, and a member of St. Marks United Methodist Church in Sacramento. Bob was also a member of Bay Cities Lodge # 337. F&AM and the Sacramento Scottish Rite Bodies, the Carmichael Elks Lodge #2103 (Life Member), and the Sacramento Rotary Club (Honorary Life member). He was a Past Big Sir of Country Club Branch 33, SIRS.
He was a co-founder of the American Probation and Parole Assoc., and a longtime member of the CA Probation, Parole, and Correctional Assoc., and the Northern CA Peace Officers' Assoc. He served on numerous Commissions and Boards of Directors, including the Sacramento Childrens' Commission, and the Pima County Commission on Corrections, as well as the Boards of Directors of the Salvation Army, the American Justice Institute, CA Association for Neurologically Handicapped Children, the Sacramento Interfaith Service Bureau, and the Junior Statesmen Foundation.
Memorial services will be held on September 18 at 11 am at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek.