Robert Soutter Sinclair

12/28/1934 - 4/2/2025
Robert (Bob) Sinclair passed away peacefully on April 2. It is difficult to boil 90 years down to a compelling blurb, but the highlights below give a sense of the man his family and friends knew and loved.

EDUCATION. Bob was a lifelong learner. He attended Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, IN, and went on to Yale University, where he earned a BA (Magna Cum Laude). He later received additional advanced degrees from both Georgetown University and UCLA.

CAREER. Bob joined the CIA as an intelligence analyst in 1956 and served in a variety of key positions over his 37-year career—the South Africa and Vietnam desks, writing/delivering the President's Daily Brief, and serving as Director of the Center for the Study of Intelligence (CIA's think tank). He received the Career Intelligence Medal when he retired in 1994.

LOVE OF MUSIC. Singing baritone in the Yale Glee Club proved to be a matchmaker for Bob when he met his future wife, Irene Stewart, on a Glee Club visit to San Marino, CA in 1956. Music remained important throughout his life and included membership in the Washington Cathedral Choral Society and the Washington Men's Camerata.

LOVE OF NATURE. Bob was an avid outdoorsman—hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and biking. He was one of the founding members of the CIA Canoe Pool, commuting to the CIA's Langley, VA offices by canoe across the Potomac River from Sycamore Island (search "CIA canoe pool" for the declassified CIA article). The Canoe Pool was a terrific conversation starter, but it also provided unexpected moments of reflection and adventure.

FAMILY. Bob is survived by his wife of 64 year, Irene (Arlington, VA), two daughters, Beth (Bethesda, MD) and Gretchen (Chevy Chase, MD), and three grandchildren, Emily Morgan (Pittsburgh, PA), and Kai and Brock Stanton (Chevy Chase, MD).

WHAT CAN I DO? In Bob's honor, get outside and spend some time in nature and perhaps support either Bread for the City or Montgomery Hospice, two Washington DC-area causes that were important to Bob. No Services at this time.