Robert Dana Ferris – 50th Reunion Essay

Robert Dana Ferris

Date of Death: 6-Nov-2010

College: Trumbull

(This memorial was published in the Times Argus on Jan. 28, 2011.)

Robert Dana Ferris died of stomach cancer in Anchorage, Alaska, on Nov. 6, 2010. In 1968, following three years at Yale University, Bobby took a year off to work as part of Volunteers in Service to America, the domestic version of the Peace Corps. As a VISTA volunteer, he was assigned to the village of Stebbins, Alaska, where he and his VISTA partner, “Koots,” worked on local education projects. There he met the love of his life, Jean Frances Bernadette Bighead. VISTA regulations prohibited marriage during a tour of duty, so on the day following his discharge, Bobby and Jean were married. Following one more semester in New Haven, it was clear to Bobby and Jean that their home was in Stebbins and they settled there, at first living in a tent, while Bobby built the log house that was their home ever since.

His early Stebbins career included crew foreman of teams fighting forest fires all over Alaska, as well as building homes and schools in the village. Most people came to know him as proprietor of the Ferris General Store and as freight agent for airlines supplying the village.

Over the years, he also served the village as mayor, chairman of the school Local Advisory Committee, and a member of the Alaska Village Electric Co-op. He established a program to encourage school attendance in the village, giving credits in his store for those with full attendance. He loved tinkering in his shop and discovering alternative ways to get things done. He was a good friend and a wonderful father.

He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Stebbins; sons Thomas Henry and John Henry, and daughters Lucy Henry, Patricia Henry, and Krystal Ferris. He was predeceased by his daughter Diane, and sons Carl and Christopher.

Excerpts from Stephen Schneebaum’s report in the September/October 2011 Class Notes: Bob went on to serve many terms as mayor of the impoverished and ignored village of Stebbins. He organized the village reindeer herd, arranged for the construction of public buildings, including schools, and founded the only general store in the town. He was a leader in every aspect of village life. Apparently, he and Jean adopted the (numerous) children of her siblings, who died young. Nine years ago, he and Jean were robbed by two local teenagers, reportedly high on glue. Both were shot, Bob in the head, but miraculously survived. He continued his career of community service.

Lou Heifetz, who roomed with Bob and me during junior year, wrote to me the other day that Bob was “an oak, sturdy, upright, a reliable source of support and shade for family and lucky friends. He was an unassuming exemplar of human decency. I can’t begin to explain this, but even though it’s been more than 30 years since my last contact with Bob, I feel a deep sense of loss.” I do too. And I had had no contact with Bob for more than 40 years. I don’t know how those years passed so quickly and irrevocably. That is why I feel compelled to write to you, and to our classmates, and to anyone else who may remember Bob Ferris, to mourn his passing, and to celebrate his life and his role in ours. Somehow, the world in which I live has been diminished with his death. I am well aware that I would be a lesser person had I never known him.