Robert Jefferson Bartholomew

  General Notes:

Robert Jefferson "Bob" Bartholomew
A good and faithful servant who loved his family, his friends, his country, and his God.

Robert Jefferson "Bob" Bartholomew, 92, of White Rock, died Sunday, July 28, 2019 in Santa Fe following a short illness.

Bob was born in Denver on March 5, 1927, to Richard and Helen Olive (Reeve) Bartholomew. After short stays in Colorado and Idaho, the family moved to Raton, New Mexico in 1934, where Bob grew up in the coal mine camps of Brilliant and Koehler. Bob joined the Boy Scouts and earned the rank of Eagle Scout and began a lifelong love and advocacy for scouting.

Bob graduated from Raton High School in 1944 and immediately joined the US Army Air Corps. He was stationed at Adak, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. After World War II, he and his brother Dick attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (New Mexico State University), where Bob earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering (Aero Option) in 1950. Following graduation, Bob and Dick moved to St. Louis, where Bob worked as a Development Engineer at the McDonnell Aircraft Company. Bob earned his Master's Degree in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Michigan in 1954, whereupon he moved to the Los Angeles area to begin work as a Senior Research Engineer at the Rocketdyne Division of North American Rockwell.

In 1957, Bob married his lifelong love and best friend Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Fuller in Raton, to whom he remained devoted until her passing in 2003. Bob and Jackie raised five children in southern California, where Bob worked at Aerojet-General Corp. (later Space General Corp.) and Mechanics Research, Inc. At Aerojet, Bob helped develop new technology for surface-effects ships and air cushion vehicles. This work took the family to Tacoma, Washington in 1971. Three years later, Bob and Jackie made their final move to White Rock after Bob took a position at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Bob received a second Master's Degree in 1979 and his PhD in 1984, both in Nuclear Engineering, from the University of New Mexico. In 1991, he retired from LANL to form Bartholomew Engineering, Inc. in Los Alamos. Bob also taught several classes in mathematics and other subjects at UNM-LA.

Following retirement, Bob enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren, involvement with the White Rock and Los Alamos Senior Centers, volunteering with the Gideon's International, and participating in the life of his Church, Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church. His family and his Christian faith were central to his life.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Richard, and his wife Jacqueline. He is survived by children Sheila K. Rumenapp and husband Hal of Thousand Oaks, California; Rebecca L. Cabildo of White Rock; Robert (Jeff) Bartholomew of Jefferson City, Missouri; John A. Bartholomew and wife Lisa of Richland, Washington, and Daniel R. Bartholomew and wife Angie of White Rock; eleven grandchildren, and many other relatives and friends.

The family would like to offer special thanks to the White Rock and Los Alamos Senior Centers, the Los Alamos Visiting Nurses, Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church, Viola's Restaurant, and to many other organizations, business, and individuals who brightened his life over the years.

Funeral services will be held at Bryce Avenue Presbyterian Church in White Rock on Saturday, August 3, 2019 at 11:00 am, with burial following at the Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos.

Robert married Jaqueline Lee Fuller, daughter of Richard Lee Fuller and Thelma Dolores Kallman, on 3 Jul 1957 in Raton, New Mexico, USA. (Jaqueline Lee Fuller was born in 1928 and died on 1 May 2003.)