Franklin “Bob” Raudenbush, 87, passed away on Jan. 15 at St. Andrews Hospital in Boothbay Harbor.
Bob was born in Pennsylvania on Nov. 2, 1922, the son of Franklin and Caroline Leins Raudenbush and attended schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey until the tenth grade when he joined the Civilian Conservation Corp in the late 1930s until 1940.
He joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, where he served from 1940 to 1946 as a quartermaster. He made several passes through the Panama Canal, into the South Pacific, transporting aviation fuel.
After serving his country he returned to Pennsylvania where he met and married Barbara Redgewick. The couple made their home in Center Square, Penn. while Bob worked for an Oldsmobile dealership in Chestnut Hill, Penn. then for Hamilton Bond Paper Mill in Miquon, Penn.
In 1968, they moved to Big Pine Key, Fla.
In 1971 they moved to Southport where he was a bridge tender for twelve and a half years. While working on the bridge he also worked at the Boothbay Railway. At the railway he took care of the museum’s collection of antique automobiles which he lovingly referred to as his “girls.” Along with the cars, he could also be found working on the steam engine as the engineer and will be remembered fondly as “Engineer Bob.”
He loved spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren, taking bus trips with friends, and trying his luck at Foxwoods. A tinker at heart, he made his own large screen TV and other electronic devices, which the neighborhood kids loved to see.
He is predeceased by his wife Barbara Raudenbush; daughter, Lynda Martella; and sister, Doris Palanjian.
Survivors include son, Robert Raudenbush and wife Suzanne of Southport; granddaughters, Sarah Beth and Shane Birge of Gulf Shores, Ala., and Diana Martella of Delaware; step-grandsons, Todd Plummer and wife Sarah of Boothbay, and Adam Plummer of Boothbay; great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Birge; Step-great-grandsons, Troy Plummer and Jay Plummer of Boothbay; son-in-law, Nick Martella of Delaware; brother-in-law, Ollie Palanjian of Alabama; brothers, Carl Raudenbush (USMC ret.) of North Carolina, and Paul Raudenbush (USA ret.) of California; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Celebration of Bob’s life will be announced at a later date by the Simmons, Harrington & Hall Funeral Home, Boothbay.
Should friends desire, memorial donations may be made to the Boothbay Railway Museum or American Legion Post #36.
Arrangements are entrusted to Simmons, Harrington & Hall Funeral Home, 975 Wiscasset Rd., Boothbay.
