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David D. 'Dave' Robb Salina, KS QCWA # 24725 Chapter 110 |
David "Dave" Dow Robb, 95, of Salina, passed away Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. He was born Feb. 13, 1922, in Salina, the son of Francis and Florence May (Dow) Robb, and raised in Hedville and Salina. Dr. Robb earned his professional degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas (BSEE 1943, MSEE 1948 and PhD 1964). He was a member of IEEE and the Sigma Xi and Eta Kappa Nu honorary societies. He was an instructor of electrical engineering at KU in the Navy's V-12 training program during WWII. Dr. Robb then worked as a professional engineer with Wilson & Co, Engrs. of Salina, early in his career and later was a professor of electrical engineering at Iowa State University. Upon retirement from Iowa State, he returned to Salina and practiced consulting engineering in the area of electric power generation and transmission until he reached the age of 80. Thereafter, he maintained an office in downtown Salina which he used to manage family business matters, and was a familiar face to many about town until quite recently. Dr. Robb was a descendant of two pioneer families in Saline County, his grandparents being Thomas and Charlotte (Seanor) Robb, and Ezra and Florence (Barritt) Dow. He had a lifelong interest in science, history, politics, amateur radio (call sign W0YRN, with his "ham" license earned at the age of 14), opera, and the electrical engineering programs at KU and Iowa State University. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Salina.
He passed his interest in family history on to his children. Survivors include his daughter, Mildred Ellen Robb (Shanto Iyengar), of Palo Alto, Calif.; his son, Bruce Dow Robb (Donna) of North Pole, Alaska; sister-in-law, Donna Hershey, of Chicago; four grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Dr. Robb was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 47 years, Mildred Hershey Robb, who passed away in 1994.