Robert W. Hardy ’54

Bob died June 26, 2025.

He prepared at the Morristown School. At Princeton, he majored in art, joined Cottage Club, and rowed bow in the freshman and varsity crew eights all four years.

Bob served as a lieutenant in the Army in Korea in 1955-56. After joining the family textile firm, he discovered a talent for helping people launch new enterprises. He then established his own firm, Americas International Consultants, that promoted new technologies, primarily from Switzerland, some of which were ahead of their time in the U.S. marketplace. Bob attributed his eventual success to a conviction that “the critical aspect of life (as in rowing at Princeton) is that when you have been knocked down, get up and go risk again,” hence his favorite saying later in life: “Up the creek and around the bend.” Bob was known for his word, respected in business, and never lost his sense of humor.

He married Karin Stockar of Switzerland in New York in 1962 while she was attending the Parsons School of Design. She subsequently ran a design firm where they lived in New Vernon, N.J. They moved their family of three to Vermont in 1989.

Bob is survived by Karin; their children Andrea, Donita, and Scott; and six grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father, Charles 1925, and brother Doug ’52.