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ROBERT D. passed away comfortably and peacefully on November 16. He was born the youngest of five children on October 31, 1921 in Canton, Ohio. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Doris Krause, son Jason Krause, daughter Robin Finlayson, son-in-law Murdoch Finlayson, granddaughter Randi Finlayson, sister Gertrude Landgraf, and brother Gus Krause. Bob was a tall, strong guy with a personality to match. He had the unusual distinction of serving in three branches of the armed services. He enlisted in the Navy before the beginning of World War Two, but was honorably discharged in about a year because of an ear injury. During the war, he worked as a telephone lineman in Ohio. In 1946, he was drafted by the Army and stationed in post-war Germany, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. After his tour in the Army, Bob attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he met and married Doris and finished his structural engineering degree in 1951. During his studies, he enlisted in the Air Force Reserve and his unit was activated for the Korean War. The Air Force trained Bob as a meteorologist and stationed him in Japan during the war. Bob finished his service at Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico. He went to work as a structural engineer for the architecture firm Vorhees & Standhardt, and lived with Doris and his young children in Roswell for several years. They moved to Albuquerque in 1957 when Bob was hired as the chief structural engineer for Flatow, Moore, Bryan & Fairburn. In 1961, they moved to Window Rock, Arizona, where Bob became head of the design and construction department for the Navajo Nation. He developed an innovative program that trained and hired tribal members to design and build projects on the reservation. Bob also built a Presbyterian church in Fort Defiance. Both the church and the building program are going strong today. In 1963, Bob and his family moved to Santa Fe where he opened his own engineering firm. He soon became a sought-after engineer for many of New Mexico's most significant building projects. His many friends and colleagues in the building construction, engineering, and architecture community remember him as a professional who was always ready to undertake a challenge in order to make something - no matter how difficult - work in a creative and proper manner. He was a mentor to many and was always ready to contribute to making projects better and more efficient. Architects and contractors who worked with him were able to complete projects with the assurance that the very best thought had gone into making them sound and complete. Among Bob's best-known projects were the Trestle Facility at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, the largest all-wood structure in the world, and the Lightning Field, by artist Walter de Maria in Quemado, New Mexico. Other buildings he was the structural engineer for include the New Mexico State Capitol Complex and De Vargas Mall in Santa Fe; Saint Joseph Hospital, the Sheraton Old Town Inn, Del Norte High School, and the University of New Mexico Medical Laboratory School in Albuquerque; the Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator at Sandia Laboratory; and veterans' hospitals in Albuquerque and Phoenix, Arizona. Bob loved a challenge in his personal life too. He was known as a fearless skier. He was an avid river rafter and piloted his own boat the length of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Whether rafting, hiking, skiing, traveling the world, or flying an airplane, nothing daunted him. At age 65, he had both knees replaced to straighten his bowed legs so he could ski better. That same year, he hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. On his eightieth birthday, he visited his sisters in Ohio, even though he was recovering from heart bypass surgery and in a wheelchair. For his eighty-fifth birthday, friends took him to see the newest buildings in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bob led a life of accomplishment and adventure, always on his own terms. He left a legacy of unforgettable memories and he is missed. The Krause family wishes to thank friends who helped compile this obituary in Bob's honor. A military service will be held at a time to be announced.
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