Exeter, NH – Robert Fredrick Wentworth (Bob) died on September 9, 2023 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He was born and raised in Rochester, Minnesota where he attended public schools. He graduated from the University of Minnesota, majoring in Psychology, under the Navy ROTC program and served as a line officer and navigator aboard a US destroyer during the Korean War. He worked in finance for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and its subsidiaries his entire career; he also earned a Senior Management Certificate from Dartmouth College. After retiring from AT&T, he served for over fifteen years as an independent trustee and chair of the board of First Investors Funds in New York City.
Bob‘s other board service included president of the Board of Trustees of the College of New Jersey; secretary of the Hartley Dodge Foundation; president of the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT; and president of the Dorset Field Club, Dorset, VT.
Bob had lived at RiverWoods Continuing Care Retirement Community in Exeter, New Hampshire since 2005, where he served for six years as a trustee of the Riverwoods Company, and for seven years on the Resident Council. Also in Exeter, he served three terms on the town budget committee, ten years on the Southern New Hampshire Land Trust finance committee, and six years as a trustee of the Congregational Church where, in 1638, his ancestor William Wentworth founded the town of Exeter along with Reverend John Wheelwright. He is the author of two books of poetry, Memories in Poetry (2017) and Alone, But Not (2020).
His wife of over 65 years, Marilyn Lindberg Wentworth, died in April 2018. Bob is survived by his children Rand (Sue), Wendy (Richard), and William; and his four grandchildren Amanda, Avery, Alec, and Thomas.
Erik J Lindberg says
So sorry to hear of the death of the last of my many uncles. He was a great uncle, but not in the formal sense of the word. Bob was great in the other sense of the word. He was married to my father’s only sister, my dad’s kid sister, whom uncle Bob described as her protector. I am fortunate to have had him in my life from my earliest beginnings. He had a strong impact on me. A few words of encouragement, or possibly of correction, had a lasting impact. He was steady and reliable. I felt a great senses of loss when the Wentworth’s moved out east, but I have all of my memories from both before and after the move, several within the last decade. Bob not only succeeded in business leadership and management, he found purpose in composing poetry. He gave me time and money saving advice when he said “I’ll never encourage anyone to take up golf.” I’ve often wished I had taken up golf in my youth when I showed some promise, but Bob helped me overcome that regret. Marilyn and Bob, the team, will never be forgotten by me. They shall be greatly missed and never replaced.
Melloney Connor says
To you the family of Robert Wentworth, I have come to know you father and grandfather through stories and pictures shared with me through Bill. At this difficult time I hold you in my heart and in my prayers. I offer to you my condolences for your loss.
I hope that you will find comfort and peace in knowing he is once again dancing, walking on the beach hand and hand and playing bridge with the only love of his life your mother and grandmother Marilyn. I do wish I could have met them.