Bob Preble, Aberdeen’s unofficial historian, dies at 96

Aberdeen native Bob Preble died Friday at his second home in Belfair, on Hood Canal. He was 96 and still sharp as a tack, according to all who knew him.

“He’s pretty much a local icon,” said Aberdeen City Council member Jeff Cook, a longtime friend.

The Aberdeen native owned and operated the Preble Agency in downtown Aberdeen, where he sold Guardian Life insurance for 67 years. He retired just last year, and the agency was dismantled.

But Preble was perhaps best known as a valued source of institutional knowledge.

“One of the things I remember most about Bob is that whenever we’d drive somewhere, he’d point out houses. He would know the history — who built the house and who lived there,” said Gene Schermer, who served on several boards with Preble. “He was a great historian for Aberdeen. But we could never make him record it or write it down; he just didn’t want to do that. But he sure loved to tell it.”

John Larson, director of the Polson Museum in Hoquiam, also tapped that knowledge. “He was indeed a font of local history, and I enjoyed many times talking with him about the people and places of long ago,” said Larson. “Sadly, I never sat down with Bob to do a more formal personal interview.”

Preble also was a major local booster, generous with both his time and his money.

“He was just a solid supporter of Grays Harbor, but particularly Aberdeen, because that’s where he was from,” said real estate broker Tom Quigg, who served with Preble on the Grays Harbor Community Foundation board. “He did everything he could to promote our community.”

Preble and his wife, Liz, also were instrumental in the acquisition of some of Aberdeen’s largest pieces of public art: the owl sculpture at the Aberdeen Timberland Library, the sunburst sculpture at the corner of Wishkah and I streets downtown, and the fountain in front of City Hall. The couple raised money for those projects and helped choose the artists, according to their daughter, Robin.

Preble also was an emeritus board member of the Salvation Army, the Grays Harbor Community Foundation and the Grays Harbor College Foundation. He remained active with the Aberdeen Lions after more than 70 years, Schermer said. “He was at the meeting just a week ago, still participating.”

And he went out of his way to participate, Schermer added. “Bob always forced himself to contribute something to every meeting,” he said. “Sometimes it wasn’t totally relevant to what the discussion was, but Bob always had something to say. You could bet on it.”

Preble also was an avid tennis player — well into his 80s, according to his daughter. “He wouldn’t have stopped if he hadn’t had macular degeneration,” she said. “He couldn’t see the ball coming at him anymore.”

“The city of Aberdeen just in the last couple years totally redid the tennis facility up at Sam Benn Park, and that was named after his wife, Liz,” said Quigg. “I know Bob was very proud of that.”

Preble met Liz in Miami during World War II, while he was serving in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade). They were married in 1945 and remained together until her death in 2000. They are survived by Robin and her brother, Gary.

For the past 15 years, Alice Weston has been Preble’s partner.

He may have been the oldest parishioner at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Aberdeen, according to Cook, who befriended Preble when they became neighbors 10 years ago. They had lunch or dinner out a couple of times each week.

“I was really interested in the history of Aberdeen and the Harbor, and Bob was a wealth of information,” said Cook.

Preble looked forward to his weekends at Hood Canal, even after his failing eyesight kept him from driving himself there.

“He caught a bus to Olympia, and from there his daughter-in-law took him up to the Canal. That was a weekly routine for him,” said Schermer. “And that’s where he passed away, up at the Canal. He loved his little place up there.”

“He lived life full, all the way to the end,” Schermer added. “He was a great man and a dear friend, and we’ll miss him.”

Cremation arrangements are being made by Twibell’s Fern Hill Funeral Home in Aberdeen. A memorial service is being planned, but no details were available at press time.