PORTLAND – Robert Edward Krug Jr., who led a record 2,067 tours over 15 years as a docent at the Portland Observatory, died on March 2, 2020 of metastatic brain cancer at his home in Portland. He was 94. After receiving the diagnosis on Feb. 1, Bob dictated a letter to Greater Portland Landmarks. ‘I don’t know if one can love a building, but I loved the Observatory,” he wrote. Staff, docents, and the 12,560 people who took his tours loved him right back.

 

 

When he retired in 2015, Landmarks presented Bob with a Special Honor Award for his ‘unwavering passion and leadership’ that helped make America’s only remaining maritime signal tower an outstanding historic site.Bob was born on Sept. 12, 1925 in Dayton, Ohio, the youngest child of Robert Edward Krug and Anna Florence Myers, who, he said, gave him the best possible start in life by loving each other and their three children. Having had to leave school themselves before the fifth grade in order to work, both parents did whatever they could to help their children pursue educations.During World War II, Bob served as a B-29 radar operator and radar bombardier, flying off Saipan with the 499th Bomb Group/73rd Wing. He received the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Pacific Service Medal with 3 Battle Stars for his service. He often described his war service as the most important period of his life. ‘I was eighteen, doing a vital job, and doing it well. Feeling competent and doing something that mattered gave me confidence for the rest of my life.’ After the war, Bob attended The Ohio State University on the G.I. Bill, where he earned a B.A. and M.A. in three years, and two years later added a Ph.D. in experimental psychology. In the 1960s, after teaching at Trinity College in San Antonio and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Bob became Director of Plans and Evaluation for Job Corps, and then Director of Research for the Peace Corps. Other than catching tuberculosis during a site visit to Peru, he loved everything about the work. He has said that the only other unlucky event in his life was running into a metal post while chasing a pop-up fly in grade school. The bulk of his career was spent as a social scientist, office director, and Director of Research with American Institutes for Research, working in Thailand, Washington, D.C., Palo Alto, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass. After retirement, he and his wife of 33 years, Aurelia C. Scott, lived in Taos, N.M., camping the Rockies and planting a large vegetable garden in which Bob grew garlic and peppers. He also served on the Taos Land Trust and help found a Habitat for Humanity chapter. Bob and Aurelia moved to Portland 23 years ago – ‘a happy, lucky choice,’ he said, ‘in a lucky, lucky, happy life.’ In addition to his work at the Observatory, Bob served on the Board of Portland Trails and on Portland’s Land Bank Commission.Bob Krug was a super smart, witty, kind, adventurous, and gentle man who loved his family above all else. He accepted the end as graciously as he had lived, although he would have been happy to stay amongst us longer. He is survived by his wife, writer Aurelia C. Scott; four daughters, Leslie Wright of Ohio, Alison Beman [Derek Potter] of Maryland, Robin Krug [Steve Kelly] of Pennsylvania, and Erica Krug [Mark Weinberg] of Cote D’Ivoire; five grandchildren, Eric, Jake, Hank, Veronica, and Nico; great-granddaughter Marley; and his former wife and mother of Alison, Robin, and Erica, Doris Northrup. He also is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Hilary Scott and Gretchen Wehrle-Scott; niece Hannah, and nephew Gabe; members of the extended Krug and Scott families, and many friends and former colleagues in Maine and away. Bob’s eldest daughter, Terry Werner, predeceased him, as did his older brother, and his sister, who now securely holds the family longevity record, having died in 2015 at age 101. Five days before he died, Bob asked what flavors of ice cream were in the house. On being told there were four, plus chocolate-covered banana slices, he said, ‘Wow, I’m dying a rich man.’ His last bite was a small spoonful of vanilla, which he savored with his eyes closed. One more thought from this fine man, who began work at age 13 as an after-school soda-jerk in a Dayton drugstore. The secret to a good milkshake is to use lots of ice cream.We thank the nurses and health aides of Hospice of Southern Maine, particularly Bob’s assigned nurse, Philip McCormick, whose sensitive care and attention enabled Bob to die in comfort and peace, buoyed by the love of his surrounding family and friends. And we thank Bob and Aurelia’s primary care physician, the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhardt. Should you wish to remember Bob with a financial donation, please consider:Greater PortlandLandmarks or:Portland Trails or:Hospice of Southern Maine

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