Obituary: Haffner, Robert Louis

HAFFNER, Robert Louis
(Age 89)

Died on September 1st in Salt Lake City.

Bob was born in Salt Lake City and grew up in Kimberly, Nevada.

He attended Stanford University where he met his wife of 68 years, Emily Howard.

During WW II, he served in the Army Signal Corps in Morocco.

He returned to Stanford after the war to complete his undergraduate studies and received a Masters Degree in Mining from the School of Engineering.

His early mining career involved managing a series of mines and mill properties in Northern Idaho, Oklahoma, Illinois and Wisconsin.

In 1963, he moved to Kellogg, Idaho, where he held progressively higher management positions at the Bunker-Hill Mining Company.

Typically adventurous, Bob and Emily moved in 1971 to Faro, Yukon Territory, Canada, approximately 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, where he managed a large open pit lead and zinc mine.

In 1975, Bob and Emily moved to Spokane where Bob worked for Cominco America.

In 1980, they moved to Salt Lake City, where he finished his career as President of the American Gilsonite Company, retiring in 1988.

While living in Spokane, Bob spearheaded the capital campaign to restore the roof of the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist.

In Salt Lake, he was President of the Alta Club and on the Board of Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, and was involved in capital campaigns for both organizations.

Robert is survived by his wife, Emily Howard Haffner; son, Kinsey Haffner; daughter, Nancy Haffner; seven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.

A memorial for Bob will be held on October 13 in Salt Lake City.

Gifts may be given in Bob’s memory to the Alzheimer Foundation.