Robert W. Blair, Sr.

Mr. Blair was born to William E. Hutton and Minnie D. Blair in Kansas City, Mo., on April 20, 1917. He grew up in Denver and graduated from South High School in 1934. Mr. Blair received his Bachelor of Science in geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1938 and then worked for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1938 to 1939. He was active with the Colorado Mountain Club and served as president of the Junior Group one year. During the winter of 1939-1940, he taught skiing at Winter Park and Berthoud Pass. After being accepted for flight training with the Army Air Corps in September 1940, he fell while rock climbing North Maroon Peak near Aspen and was hospitalized with a fractured pelvis for six weeks. His evacuation was one of the earliest organized mountain rescues in the state and was written up in Trail and Timberline (a Colorado Mountain Club publication) and well as in Popular Mechanics. After his recovery, he began basic training in December 1940 and entered the Army Air Corps as a second lieutenant in August 1941 with the 77th Bomb Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group. On Dec. 30, 1941, he married Margaret Macleod in Reno, Nev. She preceded him in death after 43 years of marriage in 1984. He was one of the first pilots of the new B-26 Marauder and was transferred to Alaska a month after Pearl Harbor in January 1942 in the first deployment of a B-26 squadron. Out of the 13 planes dispatched, only eight arrived safely. For 13 months, Mr. Blair served in the Aleutian Islands, and he saw action in Kiska. Mr. Blair was later transferred to Shreveport, La., to train new B-26 pilots. In September 1944, he was assigned to the South Pacific with the 71st Bomb Squadron, 38th Bomb Group, flying B-25 Mitchell bombers. He saw combat in Formosa and Luzon and Manila in the Philippines. In 1945, he became the 71st Bomb Squadron commander, and on June 6, Mr. Blair was forced to ditch a B-25 in the South China Sea. He achieved the rank of major and received two Air Medals, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Unit Citation (Ormoc Bay, Philippines). He left the service inOctober 1946. After the war, Mr. Blair became an exploration geologist with Continental Oil Co. and later a consulting geologist. He worked in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Texas and Egypt, living in Denver for 40 years before moving to Durango in 2006. In 1992, he married Rubye Patrick in Denver. She preceded him in death after 13 years of marriage in 2005. ""He was known for his calm demeanor and incredible wry sense of humor,"" his son, Robert Blair Jr., said. ""His wise counsel will be sorely missed."" Mr. Blair is survived by his son, Robert Blair Jr., of Durango; brother, Jack Blair, of Denver; two grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and three nephews and two nieces. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 7, 2009, at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel 1091 South Colorado Boulevard. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Mountain Studies Institute, P.O. Box 426, Silverton, CO 81433.