Robert Franklyn Waterbury

Robert Franklyn Waterbury, 87, passed away peacefully on January 18, 2026 at his home in Washington, D.C. after a lengthy illness and short hospice stay. He passed under the loving care of his wife Elizabeth, his son Dashiell, his sister-in-law Teresa Thomae, and his niece Julia Thomae. Julia is a nurse practitioner experienced in hospice care, and she selflessly attended to his needs in the last week of his life. 

Robert was born September 27, 1938 in the town of Norwalk, Connecticut, shortly after the Hurricane of ‘38, the worst storm the region has ever seen. As a child, he was raised by his grandmother in Lynn, Massachusetts. She was a stern woman with a soft spot for music. His estranged father Ralph was an itinerant musician and his mother Roberta Miller, who had married a low-level member of the mafia, was a free spirit who went in and out of his life, eventually sweeping him away to California where he, a New Englander through and through, always felt out of place.

Robert enlisted in the Army in 1956, and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan and Fort Huachuca near Tombstone, Arizona. Robert loved animals and had many memorable pets during his life.  In Tombstone he had a dog who was a daily fixture at the local saloon, where he was given a ration of beer by the staff.

Upon his release from the Army, he married his high school girlfriend from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Boyle. The couple lived in San Jose, California near Robert’s mother, who had become an amateur psychotherapist working out of her house. The couple soon had two children: Christopher, born 1960, and Mary, born 1961. 

Following his first marriage, Robert met his second wife, Harriet Wahlstrand, the sophisticated daughter of a Minnesota senator. The two had a son, Lachlan, born in Los Gatos in 1968. 

Though suffering from Asthma, he followed his deep desire to sing. He enrolled at San Jose State University, where he began studying voice with Dr. Gus Lease. Robert possessed a magnificent bass baritone instrument that was soon to be heard in the opera program and choirs. His lifelong struggle with Asthma, then an untreatable lung condition, kept him back from starting a large solo career. The eventual development of inhalant steroids allowed him to finally find success as a singer, first in the chorus of the San Francisco Opera and second as a private voice teacher.

In the late 1970’s, Robert’s second marriage fell apart, leaving him at the lowest point of his life. He met a young pianist named Elizabeth Leet, and the two married on December 20, 1981. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where Robert found a job doing humanitarian work as training site director for the International Organization for Migration (ICEM). For a time, his son Lachlan moved in, giving Lachlan the experience of a year in Germany.  In 1987, the couple had a son, Dashiell, and returned to the United States for a fruitful chapter of life that would take them to San Francisco. After his successful work with ICEM, Robert decided to study psychology, and attained a Masters in Psychology from Hayward State. Meanwhile, Elizabeth found a new career in conducting. 

In 1990, the family moved to Santa Barbara so that Elizabeth could pursue a doctoral degree in conducting. There, Robert devoted his time to his work as Music Director at Trinity Lutheran Church, teaching and raising their son. The couple co-founded the Santa Barbara Children’s Chorus, an organization that grew to 100 singers. Robert also adapted and directed versions of the great Wagner operas to be performed by children. At this time he began a pastime as a novelist that would be the focus of his later years.

In 1999, the couple moved to Redding, California, where Elizabeth put her doctorate to work as in the Music Department of Shasta College. Robert directed community opera productions, taught voice lessons, conducted the church choir at Redding First United Methodist Church, and spent 20 years running the Shasta College Vocal Institute, a summer program for singers that touched many lives. They lived happily in Redding for 25 years. 

In 2024, following Elizabeth’s retirement, they resettled in Washington, D.C. in order to be closer to family. Robert spent his last year working to publish two completed novels, Seasons of Storm, a historical novel about a young woman in the times of the Sacco and Vanzetti case, and The House, loosely based on his mother’s life in San Jose.

Robert had very high standards in all things, from his idea of what a musician should be to his idea of what a citizen of the United States should be. He read voraciously and never stopped educating himself. He spent a great deal of time and energy coaxing his students to find their own best selves, and to rise to meet the same high standards he had set for himself. Students of Robert’s voice studio have sung professionally on the greatest opera stages in the world, and have established vibrant careers in America, Europe, and Asia. The unifying factor in all of their remembrances of Robert is that he helped them find themselves, a lovely gift to the next generation from a man who fought so hard to find his own place in the world.

Robert is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, his children Christopher, born 1960, Mary, born 1961, Lachlan, born 1968, and Dashiell, born 1987, grandchildren Christopher Jr., Nicole, Jennifer, Timothy, Alexander, Elizabeth, Alexander, Hannah, Amelia, Stella, and Jackson, great grandchildren Jennifer, Allen, June, Talon, Riley Ann, Ciara and Thaisson, and great great grandchildren Rose Marie, Zoey, Hartley, and Noah.

Funeral services will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 100 W. Luray Avenue in Alexandria at 2 p.m. on Feb. 7. And in Redding at  First United Methodist Church,  in April, 2025 TBA.   Donations in Robert’s name can be made to the World Wildlife Fund.   https://donate.panda.org/page/176412/donate/1

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Boston St. Fort Funeral and Cremation Services. 

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