Robert Warren Upshaw's Obituary
Robert Warren Upshaw, a resident of Spotsylvania County, VA since 2010 has passed away on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
He is survived by his widow, the former Carolyn Sue Gabbert; two daughters, Paula C. Franken of Lewisburg, PA and Mary E. Walton of Spotsylvania; and four grandchildren, Bryce Harrison, Aidan Harrison, Abigail Walton, and Catherine Walton. Robert was preceded in death by his sister, Nancy C. Mcsweeney, in 2006.
Robert was the son of the late Paul O. Upshaw MD and Ruth E. Day, and was born in Springfield, MO on December 21, 1932. Educated in the public schools of Springfield, he graduated from Springfield Senior High School in 1950 and from Drury University, also in Springfield, with a BA summa cum laude in History with emphasis in foreign languages and vocal music. He served in the US Army of Occupation, HQ Battery of the 67th Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, at Worms Germany, 1954-1956, where he was assistant to the Operations Officer and part-time translator.
Following his return to civilian life, Robert was employed as assistant to the News Editor at Radio Station KWTO in Springfield MO 1957-1958. He joined the Employee Benefits Division of Aetna Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee, WI in 1958. The next year he was transferred to the Home Office of Aetna in Hartford, CT, where he was assistant instructor in their Group Insurance Training School. While he was employed in Hartford, Robert and his family lived in the suburb of Simsbury, CT. In 1966, due to his foreign language training, Robert was asked to become involved when Aetna established their International Marketing Department and in 1971, he was assigned to work with Aetna's international partner, Assicurazioni Generali of Trieste, in their International Marketing Office in Brussels, Belgium, where Robert and family lived in the suburb of Uccle. In 1974 they returned to Hartford and in 1978 Robert was assigned to Generali's office in New York City, where he remained until retirement in 1994. During that period, they lived in Millburn/Short Hills, NJ. In retirement, Robert and Carolyn moved to Albuquerque, NM, where they lived until moving to Spotsylvania County, VA in 2010.
Robert's passion was for opera and in Hartford he sang for several years with the Connecticut Opera Chorus and in a number of supporting roles. He was fond of telling how he sang the role of the Emperor of China to Birgit Nilsson's "Turandot" in March 1962. He was also a member of the Summit NJ Chorale and in various church choirs wherever he lived. In Albuquerque he sang with the University Chorus and volunteered to teach the basics of French and German to senior citizens at the Manzano Mesa Center. Robert and Carolyn especially enjoyed the annual Santa fe Opera Festivals while living in NM. Robert and his wife enjoyed international travel after his retirement, visiting much of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, China, Japan and South Korea. In retirement, Robert worked on his family genealogy, leaving a fairly complete record of his paternal Upshaw and maternal Day lines.
A private service will be held for the family only.
Memorial donations are suggested to the Santa Fe Opera "In Memory of Robert W. Upshaw" at PO Box 2408, Santa Fe, NM 87504.
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