Robert V. Krotkov
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Robert Vladimir Krotkov, 91, of Hadley, died peacefully in his sleep on February 14, 2021 due to complications of COVID.
Robert was born on July 17, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, the oldest of two children of Gleb and Valentina Krotkov, immigrants from Russia. Robert grew up in Kingston and graduated in 1951 with a BA in Physics from Queens University. During college, he and his family built a cottage at Eagle Lake with their own hands, ferrying supplies over the ice in the winter. He returned there throughout his life, finding unsurpassed peace and quiet. His delight in measuring the exact time of sunset at Eagle Lake, and in long backpacking trips in the western United States, showed his deep reverence for the natural world. Other passions included listening to classical music, meditating, and reading aloud to his family.
Robert knew from an early age that he wanted to be a physicist, and his passion for physics never wavered. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University in 1958. While at Princeton, he married Joan Mason. They raised a family together, sharing a passion for the great outdoors, before divorcing amicably in 1980.
Robert was an enthusiastic teacher, and never tired of asking the "big questions" about nature and reality. He was curious about absolutely everything, and wanted to probe deeply into the "why" of any topic. He served as a faculty member at Yale University from 1960 to 1966, and taught at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, from 1966 to 1997, continuing as Professor Emeritus until 2017. During his career, he won awards for his teaching, and conducted research on high-energy particles and astronomy.
In 1994 he married Bonita Janes. They lived happily and peacefully in Hadley for almost 30 years, spending many summers at Eagle Lake. In 2021 he moved to Linda Manor in Leeds.
Robert is predeceased by his wife Bonita, by his son Peter, and by his parents and sister Mary. He is survived by his son Eric Krotkov; his daughter Sonia Krotkov and son-in-law Scott Norris; his daughter Jasmine Krotkov; his former wife Joan Mason; his grandchildren Claire, Grace, and Gabriel; his daughter-in-law "Bert" Szala-Krotkov and granddaughters Kirsten and Sonia; his step-daughter Beth Cohen, step-son-in-law Bryan Cohen, and his step-granddaughters Hannah and Emily.
A virtual memorial service will take place on Sunday, February 28, at 2:00 EST. Please visit Czelusniakfuneralhome.com for information about participating in the memorial.
To honor Robert's life-long love for nature, memorial donations may be made to Trustees of the Reservation (thetrustees.org).
We will miss him.