Bob Paine

1933 - 2016

Bob Paine

Robert Treat Paine passed away on June 13, 2016 at Swedish Hospital after a short battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. His three daughters were at his side at the end.

He was born and raised in Cambridge Massachusetts on April 13, 1933 to Robert T. Paine and Barbara Birkhoff Paine, the oldest of three children. He grew up loving the outdoors, where his thirst for knowledge and love of nature began. Family lore has him being the youngest member of the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He went to Harvard University as an undergraduate, had a short but memorable stint in the Army, and graduate school was at the University of Michigan. It was there where he met and married Alice E. Coleman (which later ended in divorce). They moved to Seattle in 1962 when he was offered a position at the University of Washington where he worked his entire career.

Dad's scientific and academic achievements are written about and lauded in many places, but when he went home, he liked to garden, watch the local birds come through the yard, curse at the cats that were running loose, and drink cheap white wine or a Manhattan and watch the sun begin to set. We were raised with countless stories about his family, youth, and his work. He taught us to be inquisitive and to follow our passions.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Elizabeth. He is survived by his three daughters, Susan Paine, Nancy Paine and Anne Paine, his brother Garrett Paine and sister-in-law June Thurber Paine, his longtime companion Margie Bone, his 5 grandchildren, Rory Paine-Donovan, Marin Fahey, Madeline Selin, Robbie Paine and Camilla Paine and great granddaughter Maple Fahey. He will be truly missed by all of us.

We want to extend our sincere and heartfelt gratitude to the University of Washington Biology Department, Jennifer Ruesink in particular, and Swedish Hospital and the staff there who helped care for him at the end. They treated him with extraordinary care and compassion.

A memorial service will be Sat., July 16th, 2016 at the University of Washington HUB Lyceum from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Robert T. Paine Graduate Student Field Ecology Research Scholarship Fund managed by the University of Washington Foundation or the American Cancer Society.