SEARSPORT — It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Robert “Bob” J. Perdrizet, 101. This remarkable man passed away on December 31, 2021, in Rockport, Maine in his family’s presence.

Bob was the eldest child of the George and Etta Perdrizet of Bethel, Connecticut born on July 9, 1920. He graduated from Bethel High School. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1939, serving on the USS Arkansas (BB-33) in the Battle of the North Atlantic and on the YMS-10 minesweeper in the Asiatic Pacific Campaign. He was a skilled diesel engine mechanic and instructor. He was a proud guest of the Honor Flight Network, visiting the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC at age 98. His colorful stories have been recorded in several oral history archives. (Western Connecticut State University https://archives.library.wcsu.edu/studentOmeka/items/show/2358 and at the University of Florida, Special Collections, Reichelt Oral History Collection.)

Bob graduated Wesleyan University with a BA in Business and Philosophy 1947 and participated in soccer and wrestling. He then completed a master’s degree from the University of Bridgeport and finished his training at the Danbury State Teachers College in the Emergency Training Program. During the 1950s he taught math and social studies in Danbury, Connecticut before becoming principal of the Burnham School. He wrote an 84-page treatise on how to improve math education in elementary school, Improvement in the Arithmetic Program in Burnham School, May 1954. He often said, “Make this world a better place than how you found it.”

Bob also worked for Castro Convertible Corporation, Danbury, Connecticut, becoming executive VP of the organization, retiring in 1990.

Bob married Lucille Hannan of Danbury, Connecticut in 1946, in a double wedding ceremony with Lucille’s sister Grace and Frederick William Broas.

He is survived by Robert James Jr., wife Lisa and children Keenan and Jade; first wife Bonnie and children Brent, Dana and Amber; George Alfred and wife JoAnn and children George Alfred II, Etta Ann and Warren John; John Andrew and wife Frankie and children Kirstin, Ursula and Johnna; Susan and husband Paul Rowland and children Julie, Riley, Claire and Gwendolyn; and Grace Perdrizet and first husband Gene Bonney and children John Robert, George (deceased, age 22 years), Celeste Bailey and Michael Bonney, Grace’s ex-husband Michael Marsh and children Anthony and Philomena.

There are 15 great-grandchildren.

His extended family included the Clarksons, Ehrhards, Broas, and Hannans, as well as the Horan family friends.

Bob was a keen observer of human behavior and interested in life’s biggest questions. All of his children received copies of DESIDERRATA. He was a mentor to many, including his community in Searsport, Maine.

He was an author (Free for the Taking: A Simple Guide to the Various Uses of Wild Plants, Books 1 & 2, 323 pages, 2008), an inventor (Miracle Finger Hoe) and an eternal optimist. He followed simple rules: “eat right and exercise”. He enjoyed adventure and challenge. He drove solo, round trip from Maine to Alaska (9,445 miles) at age 91.

Bob is predeceased by his first wife, Lucille Hannan Perdrizet, and second wife, Hanna Carver Perdrizet; and by his sisters and brother Joan, Judith, George, Ida Mae; and grandson George Bonney.

Services will be held  Tuesday January 18, 2021, at 10 a.m., at St Mary’s Parish Church, 26 Dodgingtown Rd, Bethel, Connecticut. A burial will follow directly at St Mary’s Cemetery, Turkey Plain Rd (RT-53), Bethel, CT.

An outdoor celebration is planned for summer 2022.

Cards can be sent to Grace Perdrizet, 9 Warren St., Apt 2, Rockland, ME 04841.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:

Sister Cecelia
Visitation Monastery of Holy Mary
8902 Ridge Boulevard
Brooklyn, NY 11209-5716

Local arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.