Robert B. Pirie ’66 died on March 11, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia.
(The following was provided by the Washington Post on March 25, 2026:)
Robert Bruce Pirie died peacefully on March 11, 2026, from pancreatic cancer. He was the first-born child of the late Robert C. and Clara C. Pirie of South Weymouth, Massachusetts. He attended Weymouth public schools, where he graduated with honors in 1962. Following high school graduation, he attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he was active in fraternity government and inter-fraternity sports. He graduated in 1966 with a BA in psychology.
Next, he began his Naval career at Pensacola, FL, where he attended the Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School. Following completion he was commissioned a Naval officer (ensign), joining his permanent squadron patrol squadron 19, whose mission was patrolling for both subsurface and surface vessels during his tour in VP-19. During that tour, he made many deployments, including Adak, Alaska, Guam, Viet Nam, and Japan, where, in 1970, he met his beloved wife, the late Hideko Umeda. Bob was released from active duty following that deployment.
He returned to the Boston area while Hideko remained behind in Japan. After a long-distance relationship, Hideko joined Bob in Massachusetts, and they were married on September 18, 1971. Bob maintained his Navy service in the active reserves, from which he retired in 1989, with the rank of Captain. His main post-Navy career was as a human resources management specialist for the US Department of Veterans Affairs from 1972 until his retirement in 2002. He held a number of increasingly responsible positions including Chief, Classification Division and Chief, Employee Relations Division.
Bob and Hideko enjoyed an active retirement, sharing their love of travel, physical exercise, shared cultures, music and concerts. Bob was an early aficionado of rock music, including Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and shortly thereafter, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Who could dislike a Keith Richards guitar riff?
He is survived by his siblings, Stephen Pirie (Linda), Linda Cardillo (Charles), James Pirie (Theresa), his nieces, Elizabeth and Emily, and his nephews, David and Kevin; and his dear friends Peter Lang (Beth) and Nancy Boulanger.