Robert Andrews Shepard, son of medical missionaries Lorrin Andrews Shepard and Virginia Moffat, was born in Gaziantep, Turkey in 1923. He died peacefully on July 26 in Boothbay Harbor.

Robert attended school in Boothbay Harbor and Deerfield Academy. He earned a B.S. and a PhD in chemistry at Yale University. During World War II he enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Oakridge, Tennessee.

In 1946 he met Eugenia Melzar, his future wife, in Boothbay Harbor. They married three years later.

In 1950, Robert began teaching chemistry at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He went on to head the chemistry department there and then became dean of the College of Liberal Arts. His students always meant a great deal to him, some of them becoming lifelong friends.

After retiring in 1986, he returned to the family homestead in Boothbay Harbor. An avid sailor, he enjoyed many summers of cruising the Maine coast with Eugenia and the family. With an excellent baritone voice, he sang for most of his adult life in church and community choirs, including the Sheepscot Valley Chorus in recent years.

Robert was predeceased by his youngest child Alan and his older brother Frederick.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Eugenia; daughter, Virginia Rickeman and her friend Vicki Haugen; son, Andrew and his wife Judy; daughter, Jamie Knobloch and her husband Tom; his brother, Barclay; sisters, Connie Jolly and Alice Cary; as well as six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

There will be a celebration of Robert’s life on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, 125 Townsend Avenue. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor or the charity of one’s choosing.

Condolences may be shared at www.hallfuneralhomes.com

Arrangements are entrusted to Hall’s of Boothbay, 975 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay.