Daily Sitka Sentinel

Robert E. Dryden Dies; Was Electrical Engineer

 Robert (Bob) Everett Dryden

Robert (Bob) Everett Dryden, professional engineer of Alaska, exceptionally loving husband, father, brother, and friend, passed away peacefully  Aug. 3, 2022, at his home in Sitka, his wife and pups alongside, following a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 75. 

He was born in Miami, Florida,  Aug. 12, 1946, and raised and educated in Fairbanks. He became a professional electrical engineer and worked out of Anchorage, Cordova, and Sitka.

Robert had many interests. He played violin in symphony orchestras, enjoyed building and flying radio-controlled airplanes, building and operating ham radio, and flying in an Aeronca Chief with lifelong friend Alan Barber. He loved engineering, reading, music, recreational boating, hiking and bonfires.

He had a tremendous love for dogs, and helped many people learn to love and understand them. He very much enjoyed meeting and talking to people, meeting and talking to dogs. He loved his wife intensely, loved his extended family, his town, his boat, and working on personal construction projects around his house and yard.

  Robert would like to be “remembered as having lived a life of integrity,” and hoped that a life after death, “if there is one,” would include his beloved dogs. 

He is survived by his wife, Lucia April Dryden of Sitka; son Everett Robert Dryden (Ann Marie and grandson Nathaniel) of Elmore, Vermont; brother James Dryden (Stephanie Koonz) of Anchorage; former spouse and friend Sylvie Savage of Morelia, Mexico; stepdaughters Patsy A. Wilkening of Anchorage, Heather N. Wilkening of DesMoines, Iowa, and Willow Ann Tebo of Sitka; stepson Jesse Allen Tebo (Chrystle and grandson, Tucker) of Anchorage; and nieces and nephews, cousins and many, many good friends. 

He will be missed.

An inurnment at Sitka National Cemetery is scheduled noon Sept. 23, followed by a celebration of his life at a weiner roast at Halibut Point Recreation Area, the south end; contact Dean Orbison. Attendees may bring a side dish and fond memories of Robert.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to S.A.I.L. of Sitka (Southeast Alaska Independent Living) or to a fund established by his wife to install a bench in memory of Robert along the Sitka trail system. Contact April at (907) 738-0573.

Photos and stories can be posted via adn.com or lastingmemories.com.

Final arrangements are being handled by Prewitt Funeral Home of Sitka.