Robert E. Arras, Jr. – 50th Reunion Essay

Robert E. Arras, Jr.

Apartado 8-3009

El Roble de Santa Barbara, Heredia

Costa Rica

Robarras@gmail.com

In Costa Rica; Tel 2483-0301; Cell 8385-2078; in US cell (617) 803-0333

Spouse(s): Karen Koehler Arras; married 48 years

Career: CEO of Asian Alcohol Corp and affiliated companies in Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong

College: Pierson

The prospect of my name on a blank page in the 50th reunion Book of Essays worked. So I sit down to record what has happened in my life over the past 25 years. In 500 words.

In our 25th reunion essay in I said that sustaining honest and loving relationships with family and friends was the most important metric in my life; and it still is. I have been married to Karen for 48 years and cannot imagine a better companion on the adventure that has been our life together. We have three children, each of whom is successfully getting on with their lives.

Annie (YC–1997) is married to Sam Bartlett, has two children (Ben, 13, and Jack, 12) and lives in Boston where she is a performer and patron of “Americana” music.

Ruth and her family (husband, John Barbie, Truman, 12, and Ginny, 12) have set up in our compound in Costa Rica to live a less mediated life and to be nearby as Karen and I grow older. A testament.

Sam is following his own path marked by an Oxford masters degree (focused on asymmetrical warfare), an apprenticeship at a Washington think tank and a stint guiding horseback safaris in Kenya, on his way to who knows where.

For the past 25 years I have lived in Costa Rica where I parlayed my Yale BA in political science into a career in building a compound.