FRANKLIN: Robert Allan Smith

...former long-time owner of Franklin Lumber.....

Robert (Bob) Allan Smith of Flagler Beach, FL. and Wellesley, MA., passed away peacefully on April 19, 2025, at the age of 97.

Bob was the eldest son of Clinton and Cora Pelley Smith, a mere 5 minutes older than his identical twin brother Richard (Dick), born in Boston and raised in Needham MA. Many tales were shared, through the years, about growing up in a simpler time, the 1930’s and 40’s, when Needham was a quaint and quiet suburb, and with the high jinx and mischief that only identical twins could make.

After graduation from Needham High in 1945, he eagerly joined the effort to defend his country during WWII, enlisting in the United States Coast Guard. He served as a machinist on US Coast Guard Cutters Eastwind and later the Winnebago, both which patrolled the waters off Greenland.

With the GI Bill, he attended Dean Academy in Franklin, MA, then transferred to University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he met his wife Caroline, a native of Amherst and also a student. Upon graduation in 1952, with a BS in Forestry, he took a position with the US Forestry Service in far flung Entiat, WA, in the Cascade mountains. Quite the adventure for the newlyweds, to say the least.

As his family grew, so did his ambition to better support them, so he moved back to familiar turf, Wellesley, and worked in sales for Shepard & Morse Lumber Company. In the 1960’s, Bob and his brother Dick purchased and ran Franklin Lumber Supply in Franklin, MA., which flourished during the building boom of the next few decades.

Upon his retirement, Bob and Caroline took up residence in Flagler Beach, FL. but kept summer homes in both Wellesley and West Dennis, MA., where they had a home on the Bass River near Bob’s parents and brother. Bob loved the Cape and enjoyed boating and fishing for many years.

Bob and Caroline shared 68 years of marriage, and as his children grew and spread out, they enjoyed visiting them in some exotic foreign locales such as Alaska, Saipan and Hawaii.

During his lifetime, Bob’s passion for adventure led him to obtain his private pilot license and purchase his own aircraft. He took many day trips along the East Coast in his Cessna or Piper, as well as taking his wife and daughters to the Caribbean and the Bahamas, and traveling to the Midwest for air shows.

His favorite aircraft was his last one, a restored Cessna Bird Dog from the Viet Nam era, and his last flight was when he flew himself to his Florida residence at age 80.

Golf was a favorite pastime for Bob during his retirement, where he had memberships at Nehoiden Golf Club in Wellesley and at Riverbend Golf Club in Ormond Beach, FL.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, his wife Caroline, (2013), and his eldest daughter Leslie Smith-Povelite of Boise, ID. and Kodiak, AK (2007).

He is survived by his son Robert Smith Jr. of Anchor Point, AK; his daughters Sarah Smith of Princeville, HI and Elizabeth (Betsey) Smith and husband Gus Anania of Ormond Beach, FL.. He is also survived by grandchildren Caleb Smith of Kasilof, AK; Natalia Povelite-Paquette (Jon) of Portland, OR, Katie Anania of Ormond Beach, FL, James Anania of Port Orange, FL, Laine Povelite of Soldatna, AK, Celeste St. Smith of Princeville HI; and great-grandson Chaska Smith-Loans Arrows of Kasilof, AK.

Plans for interment of remains at Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellesley are still being worked out