Robert Pawson Wensley

WESTFIELD  – Robert Pawson Wensley, 90, passed away on Monday, January 6, 2014.  He was born in Yonkers, NY August 31, 1923, the son of the late William Charles and Ella Marie (Pawson)  Wensley.

Bob marked the tenth generation of the Pawson family to reside in Westchester County, NY.  He was raised in Pelham Manor, NY and attended local schools, graduating from Pelham High School where he excelled in Track and Cross Country, for several years holding the record for the mile.  As a youth, he also attained the designation of Eagle Scout. His education at the University of Maine Forestry School was interrupted by service in World War II. Bob was a member of the US Army 10th Mountain Division and served in the European Theater in the Rhineland campaign where he was awarded the Purple Heart. After the war, Bob continued his education at the New York State School of Forestry at Syracuse University. His education prepared him well for his forty-five year career in the wholesale lumber business.

Bob is survived by his loving wife, Jane Caffey Wensley, whom he married in 1973, and five children; Linda and her husband Marco Rigos of Pompano Beach, FL, Susan and her husband Mark Kendrick of Hampden, MA, Bill Wensley and his wife Cari of Shaftsbury, VT, Elizabeth and her husband Jason Hunt of Fredonia, NY and Jeff Wensley of Westfield. He leaves eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Bob took particular pride in his twenty years of service as a volunteer call firefighter. While residing in Darien, CT he was Senior Captain of the Noroton Heights Fire Department and later while living in Longmeadow was a Lieutenant Volunteer in the Longmeadow Fire Department. Bob was a forty year resident of Westfield where he was a member of the Church of the Atonement. He was a longtime member of the Westfield YMCA and Worthington Golf Club. An avid outdoorsman, over the years Bob was a very active participant in upland game bird hunting, skiing, tennis, sailing and badminton. After his retirement, Bob took up the sport of golf, where he once again proved his innate athletic ability by scoring a hole-in-one within a few months of taking up the game. He was a voracious reader and could often be found at the Westfield Athenaeum.

A calling hour will be on Thursday, January 9, 2014 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Church of the Atonement, 36 Court Street, Westfield, MA followed by a funeral service at the church at 12:00 noon.  Interment will follow at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s memory may be made to the Westfield Athenaeum, 6 Elm Street, Westfield, MA 01085 or online at www.westath.org.  Bob’s family extends heartfelt thanks to his friend, golfing partner and physician, Dr. Gurpal Kingra.
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