10/26/2026
Southwest Harbor
Robert “Bob” Stanwood, 88, passed away on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. He was born on October 12, 1938, in Southwest Harbor, the son of Raleigh and Madeline Stanwood.
Bob graduated from Pemetic High School in 1956. He studied x-ray technology and emergency medical services, and earned his CNA certification in his 70s. He was a longtime employee of The Jackson Laboratory and served in the Maine House of Representatives.
Bob lived a life of service to others. He found joy in serving the Church and through volunteerism. A lifelong member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, he was known as “a Churchman,” a title given to those who carry forward the values and traditions of the faith community over many years. He was a devoted member of the Tremont Masonic Lodge, the Scottish Rite, and the Shriners, and found great purpose in seeing that the most vulnerable were served with compassion.
When he wasn’t working or helping others, he found solace in the great outdoors. He was an avid conservationist. Fishing, hunting, trail walking, bird watching, and traveling were some of his biggest passions. He documented his journeys in journals and painted pictures with words of sights and sounds that made one feel present alongside him even years later.
Indoors, he could be found resting in his favorite lounge chair, bouncing his leg to the rhythm of a classical symphony, while reading the paper or from his vast library of outdoorsman novels, with one of his many treasured cats curled up on his lap.
An incredible host, he could also be found whipping up feasts of traditional Downeast recipes passed down through the decades, though he smiled when he said he could never get his beloved mother’s biscuits and pie crusts quite right. To be invited to sit at Bob’s dinner table was a guarantee that you would be delighted with laughter, intellectual conversation, light debate, and a delicious meal.
Driven by an unquenchable thirst to explore, Bob traveled extensively through the Americas and the Caribbean. He often spoke of riding the train across Canada, awestruck by the scenery. Asked about the most beautiful place he had ever been, he would reminisce about the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, but Hawaii and Alaska held his heart. Whenever he was out and about, he wore his favorite Kona or Ketchikan cap.
Bob loved tradition and his family fiercely. One of his favorite annual events, the family reunion and lobster feed, brought together all the things he held dear: his people, food, and being in nature. As the years progressed, he was the centerpiece of these events, offering vivid and detailed stories and commentary that would hold everyone captive, once his lobster was finished, of course.
When the season of life started to wind down, Bob found it incredibly important to express to everyone that they were loved, deeply and profoundly. He never complained and never made anything about himself. He always turned the conversation toward the other person. “Tell everyone I love them,” he would say. And he meant it.
Bob was predeceased by his grandparents, great-grandparents, mother Madeline, father Raleigh, sisters Edith and Kathlyn, nephew Robert, granddaughter Icesis, and many aunts and uncles. Bob is survived, remembered, and loved by family, friends, and everyone who ever had a seat at his table. They are too numerous to name, and he held every one of them close.
A Celebration of Life will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 315 Main Street, Southwest Harbor, Maine, on Saturday, November 21, at 1 p.m. A brief graveside service for immediate family will follow, and a reception at the church will begin afterward.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Westside Food Pantry, PO Box 767, Southwest Harbor, ME 04679.
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com
