HANOVER, NH — Robert F. Strauss of Hanover, NH, died 30 October 2019, only a few days after his 93rd birthday. He was born in Newark, NJ, in 1926, the son of Maurice and Ruth Bornstein Strauss, grew up in South Orange, NJ, and graduated with the Columbia High School Class of ‘44. Bob served in the US Navy for two years during the Second World War.
After graduating in 1950 from the New Jersey Institute of Technology as a Mechanical Engineer majoring in Aeronautics, Bob worked for the US Army at Picatinny Arsenal during the Korean conflict. In 1952 he joined North American Aviation in California to work on the design and testing of rocket engines. Three years later he was transferred to Cape Canaveral for several years’ work in spaceflight testing.
Bob returned to New Jersey to work at Reaction Motors on tests related to the space transportation system. He was a founding member of Astrosystems Inc., which studied the characteristics of rocket plumes in space. During this period, Bob was president of the Morris Plains, NJ, Board of Education. In 1972 he founded a consulting firm to work with boards of education, a company still doing business as Strauss Esmay Associates. He also served as reunion chair for his high school class as they met every five years through their 65th reunion.
Bob moved to Hanover in 1992 and became an active member of St. Thomas Church, where he soon engaged in the work of refugee resettlement. Dismayed by the lack of suitable housing for a newly arrived Afghan mother and her three daughters, Bob organized and chaired the Hanover Affordable Housing Commission and then oversaw the construction of the Gile Hill development. He also led 13 courses in the ILEAD senior learning program, taking particular pleasure in teaching the Hebrew scriptures and the history of the Jewish people. In 2017, he published “God’s Bargain with the Jews and How They Kept It,” the result of a long study of his heritage.
Predeceased by his brother Richard and first wife Rosalie Aaronson Strauss, Bob is survived by Judith Esmay, his beloved wife of 42 years; children and step-children Claudia Strauss, Ted Strauss, David Ahlfeld, Jane Ahlfeld, and Peter Ahlfeld; their spouses James Van Cleve, Hilary Davis, Victoria Dickson, Bill Thomas, and Kelly Ahlfeld; grandchidren Sorrel Brae, Star Burruto, Rachel Baron-Van Cleve, Nathaniel Van Cleve, Russell Ahlfeld, and Henry Ahlfeld; great-grandchildren Daisy, Homer, and Isaac; his cousin and lifelong friend Albert Sachs; and a wondrous band of nieces and nephews.
Bob loved conversation, lazy days at Mohonk, teaching grandchildren how to launch a little rocket, traveling to new places for Wagner’s Ring Cycle, tending his collection of US stamps, raising money for Twin Pines Housing and for the Episcopal Hospital Chaplaincy at DHMC, being part of the healing prayer team at St. Thomas Church, walking to town on Maple Street in all seasons, using the eyes and heart of an inspired engineer to discern and plan a good future.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, 30 November at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover.