Robert P. Bass, Jr., age 88, of Concord, NH and Cambridge MA, passed away peacefully at home on November 2nd, surrounded by family, after a long and courageous battle with multiple myeloma. Rob was the beloved husband of Sara M. Bass, of Cambridge MA , loving father of Tim Bass and wife, Stephanie, of Cambridge, MA and Kate Bass Root and husband, Tom, of Strafford, VT. He is survived by five grandchildren, and two stepdaughters, Gabrielle Von Henneberg Gillies of Jamaica Plain and Antea Von Henneberg Middleton of San Francisco and four step grandchildren.
Rob was the son of Robert Perkins Bass, Governor of New Hampshire from 1911 to 1913, and brother of Perkins Bass, who represented New Hampshire's Second Congressional District from 1954 to 1963. Rob was a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. In 1943, he was granted leave to serve in the United States Army during World War II. As an officer, he held posts in artillery support, radio propagation and intelligence.
In 1959, Rob founded the Concord, New Hampshire law firm of Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A. with James C. Cleveland (later a New Hampshire congressman for many years) and Warren Waters. His practice was wide-ranging, but he became known state-wide as a pre-eminent estates and trusts attorney and was a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He remained a partner and then Of Counsel of the firm until his retirement in 2003. He was known to his partners as a gracious founder and a beloved colleague.
Rob was passionate about community service and was deeply involved in many charitable and civic organizations. He served on boards and committees, many times as chair or in other executive capacities, for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire Public Television, the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, The Currier Gallery of Art, Franklin Pierce College, the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University, the New Hampshire Commission for the Arts, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and the Island Institute of Rockland, Maine.
Rob's interests also included the political arena at the international, national, and state levels. He served as chair of the NH Council on World Affairs and of the NH Republican State Committee. He also served as a Delegate to the Republican National Committee.
Businesses of many kinds benefited from Rob's leadership as well. He served on the boards of two publicly held companies and chaired the Trust and Investment Committee of Bank of New Hampshire and served on its board.
During his retirement in Cambridge, Rob served on The Development Committee of The Trustees of Reservations, The Print Council of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and The American Committee of Jurists.
Rob's keen intellect embraced many interests, including the collecting of post- impressionist graphic arts which he shared generously with various museums. He was an avid sailor and twice crossed the Atlantic on his beloved 41' yawl, MADRIGAL.
Rob will be lovingly remembered by all who knew him, as a true gentleman and a man of integrity and honor.
Private services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in his memory to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Multiple Myeloma Research, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th Floor, Brookline, MA 02445.