Col. Robert Lilljedahl. former RCC golf pro ... at 93

NEW DURHAM - Colonel (USAF) Robert Clayton Lilljedahl, 93, died at his home in New Durham, on Dec. 20, 2022. He was born on October 14, 1929 in Lynn, Mass., to Henry Carl Lilljedahl and Dorothy (Varney) Lilljedahl. Not long after his birth, the family purchased a farm on Teneriffe Mountain in Milton and it was here that Bob, his older brother Carl, and his younger sister Shirley grew up.

Bob attended a one room schoolhouse for the first eight years of his education. He remembered feeding the pot-bellied woodstove to keep the schoolhouse warm in the wintertime. As a first and second grader, he would listen to the lessons of the seventh- and eighth-graders, and always felt that his education was enhanced because of it. Bob and his siblings would ski to school during the snowy winters of the 1930s, and as a result, he became an accomplished skier at an early age.

Growing up on a farm, Bob learned lessons in animal care (horses, dairy cows and chickens), gardening, orchard maintenance, construction, timbering, and hard work. He used all of the skills learned on the farm throughout his life.

Bob was very proud of his Scandinavian heritage, his grandparents having emigrated to the U.S. from Sweden. The family's Christmas Eve smorgasbord at their farmhouse was a highlight of each year.

Bob attended Nute High School, and then transferred to Lynn English in Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1948. After a "gap year" (during which he worked in a shoe shop to earn money for college), he was accepted at the University of New Hampshire where he studied English and joined the ROTC program. He was a "three event" member of the UNH Ski team, competing in Alpine, Nordic, and Ski Jumping events. He continued to support UNH Skiing throughout his life.

Upon graduation from UNH in 1952, Bob entered the USAF pilot training program in Texas, and qualified to fly F86 Sabre Jets. He and his jet fighter squadron won many gunnery and formation flying events. Also in 1952, Bob married his first wife Ann, and they embarked on adventures around the world and throughout the US.

Bob and Ann were stationed in Japan early in their marriage, and Bob flew Sabre Jets in and out of Korea. Later in his career, Bob flew KC-135s in Vietnam.

Along the way, Bob and Ann had three daughters, Robbi, Cindy and Kathy. They owned a grocery store, a race horse, and Bob served as the Golf Professional at the Rochester Country Club, teaching the game of golf and competing in golf tournaments throughout New England.

Bob completed his flying career as Commander of the NH Air National Guard at Pease AFB in Newington, retiring in 1986. It was there that he met and married his second wife, Lee.

Throughout his life, Bob was a voracious reader of biographies, history, and adventure books. He had a collection of first edition hunting and fishing books which he treasured. He completed a daily crossword puzzle, and had a razor sharp vocabulary.

Bob enjoyed an extraordinarily full retirement. He joined Kingswood Golf Club in Wolfeboro, playing daily rounds of golf, he hunted deer, fished on Lake Winnipesaukee, and in the winter, he would XC ski 10-15 miles per day, taking in the great beauty and majesty of NH's Lakes Region. He joined the Wolfeboro Rotary Club, and he was influential in the restoration of the Ellis Hatch Wildlife Management Area and Jones Pond in Brookfield. He and Lee traveled many times to Alaska to fish for salmon, as well as exploring Europe and Canada. They made an annual fly fishing trip to Grant's Kennebago Camps in Northern Maine.

In spite of his far flung travels in life, Bob loved New Hampshire and was happiest when at home, reading a good book by his woodstove.

Henry Munsey, Flip Dupont, Chick Smith, Peter Neyland, Jim O'Der, Ginger Coggins, Ken Clark, Arthur Tremblay, Gil and Mary Patry, were close friends throughout the years. The family thanks all of Bob's friends (too many to name here) for their many kindnesses and friendship. As "old age" began to sneak up on him, it was the devotion of his friends that gave him a lift, and made his days brighter.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, his daughters Cindy and Kathy, brother Carl Lilljedahl and sister Shirley Sceggell, his nephew Steve Sceggell, and by good friends Dr. Richard Roy, Jim Gardiner, and Rollie Edgerly (with whom, in his younger years, he skied the headwall at Tuckerman Ravine).

Bob is survived by his second wife, Lee, his first wife, Ann, his daughter Robbi and her husband David Rogers, and his nephews David Sceggell, Don and Bobby Lilljedahl and his niece Denise Philips. He is also survived by sisters-in-law Julie Ouellette and Valerie Johnson, and brothers-in-law Chris and Rick Valk.

The family has been struck by how many people have come forward to say they had been mentored by Bob over the years. He taught friends and their children to ski, play golf, and cast a fly rod. He mentored his staff at the NH Air National Guard, inspiring them to excel at whatever they set out to accomplish in life.

The family extends its deepest gratitude to Marie Stickles and Patti Hayes---both of whom were most helpful to Bob and Lee in his final years.