It is with great sadness that the family of Robert Joel (Bob) Abramson announces his passing on April 21, 2020, at the age of 78. Bob will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 52 years, Claudia, and by his children, Eden, Sarah, and Seth. Bob lives also in the fond memories of his four grandchildren, Lily, Josh, Eric, and Eva; and his extended family in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Massachusetts.
Bob's family and close friends will remember him as a man liked by all who met him. His uniquely companionable manner came with considerable wit and intelligence—always employed to engage rather than distance—and a gentle good humor originating in kindness and generosity.
Bob was passionately devoted to his family. He provided his loved ones with encouragement, counseling, and affection. He both deeply appreciated his own heritage and was a student of the world’s complexities. This attentiveness made his observations and conclusions insightful and his parenting validating and nonjudgmental.
He brought these strengths to both his college and professional life. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1942, Bob’s early years were spent in Connecticut and then New Jersey, where he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating with a degree in English and great enthusiasm for Charles Dickens, philosophy, and history, he worked as a social worker in New York for two years.
Having decided to return to Rutgers for a graduate degree in English, he made the fateful decision to first take the summer off and work at Camp Laurelwood in Madison, Connecticut. Claudia had also decided to work at the Camp before beginning graduate work at Teachers College, Columbia University. He proposed to her on the third day of camp and she accepted on the seventh.
For more than half a century, Bob and Claudia devoted their lives to each other and their growing family. Bob worked as a software coder for Metropolitan Life in Manhattan, then for a brief time in San Jose, California, before settling in Massachusetts. He began working for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1974 as a Software Product Manager. Over the course of his 21 years with the company, he worked with the Quality Team and Software Engineering Process Group (SEPG), and established, staffed, and managed the Product Management team responsible for formulating strategy and promoting the products of DEC’s Artificial Intelligence Product Group.
On Mother’s Day in 1972, Bob brought his wife and ten month-old daughter to the opening weekend of the Village of Nagog Woods, an idyllic condominium community designed to blend into forest land in Acton, Massachusetts, across from a Concord reservoir, Nagog Pond. It was in the Village, in the wider community of Acton, and as a founding member of Acton’s Congregation Beth Elohim that Bob made life-long friends whose companionship he cherished.
A celebration of Bob’s life will be held on a future date, when his friends and family can safely gather together in person to honor a life of generosity and grace. In the meantime, memorial donations in Bob's memory can be made to A Friend in Need—an organization he admired and supported. [http://southactoncc.org/outreach/a-friend-in-need/]
Memorial page actonfuneralhome.com