Robert Urquhart Was Aeronautical Engineer

Robert Gordon Urquhart of Wellesley Hills died on Nov. 15 at the Boston Center in Roslindale after an extended illness. He was 85. He was born in Detroit, Mich., on April 10, 1918, the son of William and Greta Winters Urquhart. He married Adelaide Bangs of an Island family in 1944 and thought of Martha's Vineyard as a second home which he visited as frequently as possible through the years.

Mr. Urquhart followed the progression of his family's occupation in transportation. He was descended from blacksmiths in the Scottish Highlands; his great-grandfather, also a blacksmith, emigrated to Ontario. His father was an engineer associated with the auto industry. Mr. Urquhart matriculated as a freshman in 1936 at Harvard College, receiving a master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1941. Following graduate school he worked for Chance Vought Aircraft in Connecticut on development and production of the famous gull wing Corsair. After the war he taught at the University of Minnesota and Texas A&M College before continuing his engineering career with the Martin Company in Baltimore, serving as a field test engineer in the California and New Mexico deserts and as a research engineer in Denver. Later in his career, he received a second master's degree in mathematics education at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

He retired in 1988 from ASEC, an engineering company in Burlington. Professionally, he was proud of the fact that he had received recognition in 2001 for 60 years of continuous membership in the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. At the meeting where the presentation was made, the master of ceremonies remarked that, to his knowledge, no other New England member had ever received the award in person.

A 27-year member of the First Baptist Church in Newton, his major concerns were social outreach and the distribution of food from the metrowest area to those in need in the inner city.

Mr. Urquhart is survived by his wife of 59 years, Adelaide; his son, Robert Jr., and grandchildren, Amy and Ian. A memorial service was held on Sunday, Nov. 23 at the First Baptist Church in Newton. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the feeding ministry at the church, 848 Beacon street, Newton Centre, MA 02459 or to a charity of one's choice.