Richard B. Robbins ’43

Bart died June 17, 2021, in Shelton, Wash., near his beloved Hood Canal. 

Born in 1920, Bart spent most of his life in the outdoors, fishing, boating, and hunting, and building his company, the Hama Hama Logging Co., of Lilliwaup, Wash., which specializes in tree farming and oyster growing.

Raised in Seattle, Bart attended the Thacher School and Lawrenceville, where he played baseball and soccer, and rowed crew before coming to Princeton. At Princeton he played soccer, rowed crew, and wrestled. Bart won the Cane Spree for the freshman class, winning his bout handily. He graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.

After three years in the Navy during World War II, shortly after the war in the Pacific ended, he married the love of his life, Penelope Fuller. They soon had four children, David, Mattie, Helena, and Elizabeth. In 1955 they moved to Hamma Hamma, embarking on a 60-year venture turning the family property (first purchased by Bart’s grandfather in 1899) into a sustainable business.  

Bart’s family remembers him leading by example and teaching all his kids and grandkids how to work on behalf of family and community, how to respect one’s natural surroundings, how to be kind to animals, and how to live a productive life. 

Penny died in 2014, just after their 68th wedding anniversary. Bart is survived by his four children and their families and his large, close-knit extended family.