Robert H. Flory Jr. died in his home in Walpole on July 3, 2025 among the people he loved most in the world: his wife, Kathleen, and his family: Brian, Sally, Will, Ryn, and Fritz.
Rob was the son of Sylvia Jones Flory and Robert H. Flory Sr. He was born on Sept. 10, 1949 in Saranac Lake, N.Y. and grew up in Newark, Ohio. Rob went to Howe Military School in Indiana and graduated from the Peddie School in New Jersey in 1967. He received a B.A. in history from Denison University in Ohio in 1971 and an M.Ed. in special education counseling from the University of Pittsburgh in 1974. Then, from 1977-1980, he continued with doctoral studies in educational psychology.
Rob was a true renaissance man. He didn’t just love food, he was a fabulous cook, and, from 1981-1994, he owned and operated Cafe Azure, a 75-seat, award-winning restaurant as well as the Filmore Street Market & Wine shop, both in Pittsburgh, where he lived before moving to Maine. He didn’t just love wine, he went into partnership with his brother, Abe (d. 2021) at the Eberle Vineyard in Paso Robles, Calif. He became an expert in wine and travelled widely to lecture and introduce people to his wonderful California wines.
Rob was a businessman, president, and COO of Flory Investments Inc., an assistant professor of graduate and undergraduate courses in special education and educational psychology at Duquesne University, and the program director and acting assistant executive director of the Association for Retarded Citizens.
Rob Flory had a spirit that was endlessly generous. He gave, without reservation, to his community, his businesses, and his causes, which always included education, art, music, and politics. He was a philanthropist and patron of the arts. He was responsible for creating and leading the Friends of the DaPonte String Quartet, a unique nonprofit organization that made it possible for a world-class string quartet to permanently settle, perform, and teach in Maine, where they still do, some 30 years later. He was deeply involved in Coastal Kids Preschool, where he served on the board and used his educational expertise to help expand a sorely needed preschool whose population included children with special needs. For years, Rob personally delivered Meals on Wheels and brought food and conversation to the homebound and isolated Mainers.
He and Kathleen formed a close and enduring friendship with Dr. Charles “Chuck” and Nancy Watson and chaired the funding of the Watson Professorships and the Watson Surgical Education Center. This effort was instrumental in recruiting and retaining world-class surgeons to the University of Pittsburgh Medical College.
And as if all this was not enough, Rob never stopped learning. He was an active subscriber to dictionary.com, where he – for years – tested his friends with a word of the day, usually some esoteric, unknown word that Rob immediately folded into his own conversation.
Rob Flory was a man of deep faith, which imbued every aspect of his life. Even in the face of a long battle with cancer, his faith was never shaken. It was in the forefront of everything he did. The beautiful St. Andrews’s Episcopal Church in Newcastle was his spiritual home.
If you passed Rob on the street, you would assume he was a conservative, impeccably dressed, cautious man. He was all that and so much more: he was a daring risk-taker. He was never half-in. When he committed his knowledge, intelligence, and expertise to a project – business, humanitarian, profit-making, nonprofit – it was all or nothing. He was driven by passion, but passion anchored solidly in knowledge and faith, and buoyed always by his love of his family, and theirs of him.
He is survived by his wife, Kathleen; son, Brian Rubenstein and his family; cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, and a multitude of friends.
Visitation will take place on Saturday, July 26 from 1-3 p.m. at the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, at 612 Main St. in Damariscotta. Service and burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made in memory of Robert Flory to Coastal Kids Preschool, 12 Jackie’s Trail, Damariscotta, ME 04543.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., Damariscotta, ME 04543. Condolences and messages for his family may be expressed by visiting stronghancock.com.
