Robert “Bob” Harry Whyte of Williamsburg, Va., passed away peacefully on July 4, 2025, surrounded by family. Bob was born to Harry and Lorraine (Sunderwirth) on December 11, 1937, and was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother, Bill.
Bob attended Wilbraham-Munson Academy and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), graduating in 1960. He started his career at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.
Following a snowstorm, he stopped to help the two ladies from across the street and met his wife of 63 years, Marian Alice Lowe, a transplant from Tennessee and the owner of a white 1957 Thunderbird.
After getting married in August 1961 and serving two years in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army, he embarked on his next life adventure, having two children: John Michael (July 1965) and Sharon Lynn (December 1967). Following Sharon’s birth, they moved to a 100-year-old farmhouse in Vermont and a new career with General Electric. There were many years of July 4th barn dances for their local and out-of-town friends, sailing on Lake Champlain and fixing old cars, especially his favorite, a 1937 Buick.
Sailing was his passion, and he and Marian could always be found on a boat. Starting with a partial ownership with friends in New Jersey to racing J boats and spending months on his boat in the British Virgin Islands, they were happiest around water. When it was too cold to sail, they sought out good skiing on the East and West Coasts, eventually moving full-time to Colorado so they could sail in the summertime and ski all winter, both of which they did into their eighties.
Another constant in his life was his work as an aeroballistician, helping to design multiple weapons systems for the Department of Defense, first with GE and then with Arrow Tech Associates, which he started in 1987 with the late Bud Stearns. He loved his time with all of his work colleagues, but he truly loved his friends that joined him at Arrow Tech, especially his wife and son, John. He pioneered the “3:30 company happy hour” and always could be counted on for a smile and a beer, no matter where he was. His work was recognized multiple times throughout his career, but he was especially proud to receive the Robert F. Goddard Award from WPI in June 2011, joined by his family (John ’87 and Sharon ’89), lifelong friends from college, and his two grandsons, Jacob and Colin. He continued to work on small projects into his eighties and was always happy to talk about his work!
Throughout his life, he could be counted upon to be serious when he needed to be but happy and joking otherwise. He lived life to the fullest and loved his family and friends fiercely. He will be missed by all who knew him but especially his family, Marian, John, Sharon (Paul), and his nieces and nephews; Jill (Cliff) Gookin of Lexington, Ky.; Jennifer (Kevin) Mclaughlin of East Longmeadow, Mass.; and Jeffrey Whyte of Hamden, Mass.
A celebration of life will be scheduled in the fall in Vermont. Details to follow.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2025.