Robert W. “Bob” Fletcher, age 83, husband of the late Betty (Cox) Fletcher, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans.

    He was born on March 18, 1926, in Richford, the son of the late Winfred and Lottie (Ladue) Fletcher.

    Bob was a lifelong farmer, logger and horseman. He first purchased his grandfather’s (Milo Fletcher) farm in Enosburgh Center, which he operated from the late 1940s until 1970, when he and Betty moved to the village in 1970. Once in the village, Bob owned and operated the Gulf Station on Main Street for several years. He also was a partner with Garth Atherton in a welding business. He drove school bus until the age of 82, and took great joy in driving the kids to their sporting events. First and foremost, Bob was a horseman, he loved to log with horses and worked his draft horses at many horse pulls around New England and Canada.

    Bob was a member of the Enosburg Falls Lions Club, a Melvin Jones Fellowship recipient and had the Enosburg Lions Horse Pulling Arena dedicated to him in June of 2006. He was also a member of the New England Draft Horse Association.

    He is survived by his son and his wife, William Fletcher and Deborah Greenwood Fletcher of Enosburg Falls and Vero Beach, Fla.; his granddaughter and her husband, Kelly and John Barnier and their children, Tyler, Nicholas and Audrey of Swanton; his brothers, Gordon Fletcher and his wife, Catherine, of West Enosburg, Wendell Fletcher of Swanton, and Roy Fletcher and his wife, Judy, of Auburn Hills, Mich.; his sister and her husband, Ruth and Albert Brouillette of Honey Brook, Pa.; and several nieces and nephews, including a special niece, Ann Lavasseur of Fairfield, Conn. Besides his parents, Bob was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Betty (Cox) Fletcher. They were married on Aug. 17, 1946. He was also predeceased by two brothers, Winfred Fletcher Jr., and Tommy Fletcher.

    Funeral services will be held Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, at 1 p.m. at the Spears Funeral Home, 96 Dickinson Ave., Enosburg Falls with Rev. Jon Bly officiating. Interment will follow in the Enosburgh Center Cemetery.

    A time of visitation will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 11 a.m. until the hour of the funeral.

    For those who wish, contributions in Bob’s memory may be made to the Enosburgh Ambulance Service, 83 Sampsonville Rd., Enosburg Falls, 05450.

    Private e-mail condolences may be sent to Bob’s family on-line through: www.spearsfuneralhome.com.