KINGFIELD —Robert S. “Clay” Pidgeon died Friday, May 28, at home in Kingfield surrounded and supported by dear friends and family. His extraordinary toughness of mind and body allowed him to mount a phenomenal seven-year battle against advanced prostate cancer. The strength and courage he displayed throughout his battle were an inspiration to all who knew him. He was much loved and admired by family and friends who now, collectively, feel the great void in their lives that his passing has created.

Known to his many friends as “Clay” and as “Bob” to his family, he was born on July 23, 1946 in Wayne, Mich., to the late Robert J. Pidgeon and Nancy Kenosian Pidgeon Woodburn. He had rich memories of growing up in the farm country of suburban Detroit and was very proud of his Armenian and Native American ancestry.

After graduating from Flatrock High School in 1964, he enlisted in the U. S. Air Force in 1965, trained as an air policeman and served in Vietnam. Following his discharge from the Air Force, he enlisted for service as a Detroit, Mich. policeman with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department. His rookie year on the force found him thrust directly from the police academy into the horror and violence of the Detroit riots of 1968. While on the job as a police officer, he completed his degree in criminology at Wayne State University. Yet, after five years as a Detroit police officer, it was his search for a more tranquil life that led him to Maine in 1974. He was forever captivated by the remarkable natural beauty and quality of life of Franklin County and chose to spend and savor the remainder of his life surrounded by the majesty of the western mountains. During the ski season of 1977/78, while holding court with the locals at the Herbert Hotel in Kingfield, he spied and pursued the “tall girl from Massachusetts” who would become his wife and life partner. He married Jeanne Tucker in Jan. of 1979 and over the next 31 years they forged a wonderful life together in their adopted state.

He was a skillful carpenter and cabinet maker, who, by the time his illness forced him to retire, had a reputation throughout the area as a top-notch contractor who left his touch of artistry and fine craftsmanship on each and every one of his projects. Working with wood was one of the joys of his life and he took great pride in his fine “hand skills” and quality workmanship. A great friend with a big smile and warm heart, he was well known for his wonderful personality, robust sense of humor, and his exceptional personal character. He had many loves and lived life with gusto. His first loves were his wife, his extended family, his closest friends, and, his dear yellow Labrador retrievers. He was a skillful outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing; he loved gardening and was known for his awesome garlic crop each fall. In recent years his passion for riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle afforded him great pleasure and keepsake memories. Whatever he did, he did well. He was smart and clever, a first rate problem solver, and true Renaissance man. He loved and was loved as much as any man could be.

He leaves his wife, Jeanne Tucker, of Kingfield; sister, Toni Foor, of Prescott, Mich.; mother-in-law, Esther Tucker; sister-in-law, Rita Tucker; brother-in-law, Richard Tucker and his wife, Ruth, all of Holbrook, Mass.; sister-in law, Donna Tucker, and her husband, Gary Ford, of Pompano Fla.; his dear and much loved nephews and nieces, Rodney Taylor of Woodbridge, Va., Joshua Tucker and his wife Jessica of Holbrook, Mass., Jessica Tucker and her fiance, Daniel Antonious, of Weymouth, Mass., and Lindsey Tucker Geoghegan and her husband, George, of Quincy, Mass.; his adored great-nephews and nieces, Joshua and Samantha Tucker, Emma Tucker and Nicolas Robert Antonius.

Jeanne extends special thanks for their outstanding care and support for Clay during his illness to his devoted and very special primary care physician, Dr. Stephen Goss of Pine Tree Internal Medicine; Dr. Eric Hartz of EMMC Cancer Care of Maine; hospice nurse, Bonnie Fitch, of Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice; and the many wonderful caregivers at the Franklin Memorial Hospital Outpatient Department. Donations in Clay’s memory may be made to Franklin Memorial Hospital, Outpatient Dept., Farmington, ME.