Northampton, MA – A familiar presence in Northampton for the past seven decades, Robert Barr Proctor, passed away on July 5 at the age of 91, of cardiac arrest. Robert was the only Deaf member of his family. He was blessed with an infectious smile, intense curiosity and great love of life, which enamored him to many, while his natural Deaf bluntness sometimes raised eyebrows.
Robert was born at Fort Totten, Queens, NYC on October 10, 1933, to beloved parents, Joseph Worthen Proctor and Dorothy May Buffen. His father had studied engineering at MIT, rose to the rank of colonel in the US Army, then taught engineering at Bucknell. Thanks to his father’s military career, Robert grew up “everywhere in the USA.” He spent four years in Germany, where despite his hearing loss he learned the language fluently. He maintained correspondence with a German friend his entire life thereafter.
Robert’s family chose Northampton, MA so that their son could attend the Clarke School for the Deaf. Following his parents’ death, Robert remained in the family home across Childs Park. In 2017, a local sign language interpreter, “my closely acquainted friend, Tracey Baptiste, bought my parents’ house and became a proxy to me, allowing me to remain… a very exceptional lady to me.”
Robert made several visits to Europe with his parents, and one extended solo trip there, especially enjoying bicycle festivals, and delighting in photography with his paired Leica cameras, one color and one black-and-white, on a shared frame. A treasured memory was dancing by moonlight traveling by ship through the Panama Canal.
Robert adored his parents; every evening he dined alongside double-framed photos of them. Every year after his mother’s death he continued to mark the occasion with a birthday cake in her memory. Robert was a great storyteller and delighted in reminiscing about his family and their shared adventures.
Robert loved all things mechanical and scientific, especially trains, photography, bicycles and astronomy. He earned degrees in mechanical engineering from both the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY and UMass Amherst, proudly providing tutoring to “formidable hearing students.” He worked as a draftsman at Kollmorgen Optical for over a decade and held a variety of other jobs, including at UMass Amherst driving a bus and working in the bookstore and dining commons. For 24 years he delivered telephone books on his sturdy yellow Columbia bicycle, which he also used to haul groceries and items he secured at tag sales. For years, Robert was an active member of the Amherst Railway Society and had a vast HO gauge model railway.
Robert was a lifelong daily reader, including several newspapers to stay current on local and world events. His unique thinking style and broad knowledge are evident in volumes of carefully typed notes, letters, and annotated press clippings.
For his 90th birthday, Tracey arranged for Robert to have the opportunity to drive a trolley, a story he retold thereafter with pure joy. At 91, Robert requested an overnight stay in the country timed to observe the rising of the full moon. Robert had a gift for friendship and in his last years received emotional and senior support from Karran Larson (social worker), Lee Nettles (peer support/recovery coach/advocate) and Claire Troiano (interpreter/oral transliterator). He has no close surviving family members.
A funeral service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 48 Elm Street, Northampton at 10am on Robert’s birthday, Friday, October 10.
Please go to Czelusniakfuneralhome.com for online condolences and tribute book.
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