Robert "Bob" Shaw Townsend

Robert “Bob” Shaw Townsend died peacefully on Saturday, May 30, 2015, in his Morganton, NC, home surrounded by family. He was 84 years old.

Bob was born in Minot, North Dakota, on October 18, 1930, to Mildred Catherine Shaw Townsend and Joseph Boatman Townsend. Aside from the prairie wind, Bob had few recollections of his early life in Minot. When he was five, the family moved to Montana where Bob spent his formative years before a move to Maryland in 1945. Bob received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland before serving in the US Army, stationed in Germany as part of the Occupation Force. Following his honorable discharge, he began a four-decade long career at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, primarily working at the National Cancer Institute. As part of his work for the National Institutes of Health, he worked in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the 1960s doing cutting-edge work on a cholera treatment that is still in use today. He relocated to Morganton in 2011 where he enjoyed a peaceful life.

He is survived by his daughters Amy Townsend and Katherine Larson; granddaughter Margaret Larson; nephews Joseph Townsend III, Thomas Townsend, and James Townsend; and niece Linda Hurd. He was preceded in death by his parents and by his brother, Joseph Boatman Townsend II.

A graveside service will be held at Burke Memorial Park at 9 AM, Monday, June 1, 2015 with military honors performed by the North Carolina National Guard and the American Legion Hickory Post 48 Honor Guard.

Donations can be made to Burke Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc., 1721 Enon Road, Valdese, NC 28690.

Sossoman Funeral Home and Crematory Center is assisting the family with the arrangements.