Submitted by the family
SOUTHPORT, CONN. — Robert Stewart Walin, age 95, died peacefully on August 25, at the Maplewood at Southport assisted living facility. He had previously lived in Darien, Conn., with his daughter, and prior to that had been a long-time resident of Washington and Woodbury, Conn.
Bob was born on October 8, 1929, to Frank Leonard and Kathleen Stewart Walin in the Bronx, N.Y., as their only child and grew up in Bellerose, Long Island, N.Y. He graduated from The Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., and St Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. While at St Lawrence, he was a member of the ATO fraternity and lettered in varsity football, baseball and hockey. He was a member of the undefeated SLU football team of 1950 and that year was named a Little All American. He was drafted and served as a US Marine at Parris Island, S.C., before returning to St Lawrence to finish his senior year. Growing up, he spent summers fly fishing, hunting and camping in and around Rangeley, Maine, with his mother’s family, and during college summers and for years afterwards he was a lifeguard at Jones Beach on Long Island.
After graduation, Bob worked as a real estate executive for Shell Oil on Long Island but after 13 years with Shell, he moved to Woodbury with his young family to pursue his burgeoning interest in early American antiques — a town where his uncle had been a well-established dealer. Bob went on to become a respected antiques dealer and collector himself known for his knowledge of the provenance and construction of early American furniture and folk art. He loved sharing this knowledge with customers and sharing stories with his dealer friends — as a result his shops became meeting places, always with laughter in the mix.
In October 2014, Bob was interviewed by Antiques And The Arts Weekly at the time of his retirement at the age of 85. The article highlighted Bob’s career as a dealer, how the business had changed and what he viewed as career highlights. As mentioned, Bob began his career in Woodbury where his uncle Mason Stewart was a well-known dealer of early American antiques. Bob established his own shop attached to his home up on Flanders Road, originally under the name Half House Antiques. During the week, he would travel through Massachusetts and up to Maine to find great pieces — stopping in at pickers and renown dealers like FO Bailey and Pam Boynton and then return home and do a big business on the weekends with both retail customers and other dealers; at the time, there were many notable dealers in the Woodbury area, such as Ken Hammitt, Howard Richmond, Moria Wallace and Iggy Weise, among others. Bob dealt in high-country furniture and loved pieces with different designs, being known for well-priced Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century furniture, paintings, folk art and accessories. He had a particular affinity for buying and collecting weathervanes, nautical paintings, redware and Oriental rugs. In addition, he participated in various antique shows in New England. Later in his career, he teamed up with Tucker Frey and operated shops in downtown Woodbury. In the Antiques and The Arts Weekly article, Bob mentioned that one of his most important sales later in his career was of a red, white and blue painted pewter cupboard to famed designer Robert Couturier. Bob noted how the business had changed after a very strong market in the 1990s, where general pricing in the industry had taken antiques out of the reach of some retail customers. The interviewer asked Bob to summarize how he would transition from being an active dealer into retirement…in classic style, Bob noted, “I will always love to look. And fish. That’s enough.”
Bob was also a long-time summer resident of Nantucket, having built a house there in 1984 after honeymooning on the island with his second wife Ellen. He loved fishing and boating off Nantucket and became a prolific Nantucket lightship basket maker. He also discovered road cycling in his 50s and could be found riding through the Litchfield Hills or with “the pack” on Nantucket and continued to bike 30-40 miles several times a week well into his mid 80s.
He will be lovingly remembered for his optimism and enthusiasm for life, his quickness to laugh and his love of old movies, classical music, great seafood, sports of any kind, animals of all sorts and the great outdoors — and, most importantly, his endearing love for his family and his country.
Bob is survived by his two children, Kimberly Kay Walin of Darien, Conn., and Robert Stewart Walin, Jr, of Jupiter, Fla., and pre-deceased by his wife, Ellen Reeves Walin.
