Robert Sinclair Templeton Jack, “Bob,” of Kennebunk, passed away Jan. 15, 2024. He was born on Jan. 22, 1944 in Portland, Maine, to Arthur Templeton Jack and Ruby Sinclair. He was married to the love of his life, Susan Ross, of Montreal, Quebec.
He met Susan, a Canadian, who was a guest at his grandfather’s hotel, The Wentworth, at Kennebunk Beach, in 1973. Theirs was a summer romance which lasted through 50 years of marriage.
Robert grew up in Kennebunk and attended Kennebunk schools through junior high, then Lenox School, a prep school for boys in the Berkshires, where he excelled in soccer, hockey and lacrosse. Following Lenox, he attended Boston University School of Business Administration. He then enlisted in the US Army, graduated from finance school and was sent to Japan to the US Army Medical Hospital, Camp Zama, with the Medical Services Corps, as medical evacuation coordinator and patient registrar. He was serving there during the height of the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, receiving special recognition for his participation, when thousands of casualties were transported from MASH units and battlefields, more than tripling the patient load. In the last six months of his service (1965-1968), he was transferred stateside to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, to use his knowledge of medical records, as well as coordinate and assist various sections of the Registrar Division of the hospital.
Following discharge from the Army, Robert returned to Kennebunk to take over management of Western Auto, a toys, sporting goods, automotive and hardware store, a well-established Kennebunk business owned by his parents, who were getting ready to retire, after 21 years.
Robert and his wife, Susan, bought the business, dropped the Western Auto franchise, and operated it until the building owner wanted their space. Sadly, there were no other locations suitable on Main Street at the time.
Following liquidation, Robert took his sales and marketing expertise to major industries, as district sales and marketing manager, traveling throughout New England and Westchester County, New York. After a series of corporate mergers prevalent in the 1980s, with all those upheavals, he chose to work closer to home, after years of being on the road. He was hired by Kennebunk Savings Bank, to introduce the electronic bank card system, then in its infancy, to tourist businesses across southern Maine, building a substantial portfolio for the bank.
Because Robert always missed working with Susan, they decided on a change of course. They took a leap of faith in 1995, establishing a gift shop, SeaPort Gifts, in Kennebunkport, which they ran happily and successfully together for 11 years, before retiring.
Robert was a member of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Kennebunk, was president of the Southern Maine Men’s Hockey Association in the 1970s, taught Junior Achievement and was involved in the local Boy Scouts organization. He enjoyed Sudoku, math puzzles, music, books, movies and live theater, especially musicals.
And he loved the sea. He and Susan would go down to the ocean as much as possible – not to swim in the bone chilling water – but to gaze and meditate, at their favorite coves where the waves would crash and splash with great energy, always a spectacle, yet somehow reliably calming.
Robert will be sadly missed by his wife and many friends and his niece, Cheryl (Rick) Remash of New Jersey. Should anyone wish, a donation in Robert’s memory may be sent to First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 114 Main St., Kennebunk, ME 04043, or to a charity of one’s choice.
A Celebration of Life Service and burial will be held in the spring and will be announced.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit Bob’s Book of Memories Page at www.bibberfuneral.com.
Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
