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REDDING, Conn. – Robert Raine Stirling of Redding died Jan. 11 at his home. He was 79.
Born April 7, 1933, he was the son of Robert H. and Erminie Raine Stirling. He interrupted his studies at Dartmouth College to join the Marine Corps. He served as a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C., and in Korea.
Stiring returned to Dartmouth and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He then earned a masters in business administration from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 1958.
He worked for IBM Corp. for 30 years. In 1989, he joined Drake Beam Morin as senior vice president and managing director of the Hartford, Conn., office. He retired in 1996 and joined the board of directors of STRIVE Fairfield County Inc., a nonprofit job training organization.
While working at IBM, Stirling traveled extensively in Europe and the Far East. He vacationed in India, Kenya, Egypt and Australia. His favorite places were Paris and Hawaii.
He enjoyed woodworking, fishing, boating, reading, good food and wine, as well as sitting in his favorite chair in front of a fire. He was especially proud of his Scottish heritage, his family said.
Stirling is survived by his wife, Rita Judd Stirling; five children, Marjorie (Tim) Godfrey, of Lebanon, N.H., Sharon (Stephen) Cadden, of Norwalk, Susan (Mike) Antonovich, of Weston, Scott (Eileen) Stirling, of Easton, and Jeff Stirling, of Ipswich, Mass.; a sister, Joyce Ann Wyatt; eight grandchildren and three nephews.
A celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, at United Methodist Church of New Canaan. Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home in Fairfield Center is handling arrangements.
Memorial donations may be made to the Lustgarten Foundation, 1111 Stewart Avenue, Beth Page, NY 11714, or The Stirling Fund for Health Care Improvement, c/o Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Attn: Allison McKenrick, 35 Centerra Parkway, Suite 100, Lebanon NH 03766.
Stirling's team for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk is also accepting sponsors.
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