Rob Ohler, 85, died February 1, 2002 at Maine Veterans Home in Augusta. He was a forestry major at the University of Maine, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1937 and then received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1941. From 1934 to 1938, he worked four summers at Madison and one at Galehead. In 1988, at age 72, he hiked to Madison and participated in the centennial celebration representing hutmen of the 1930s. His medical talents were also called on when during the hike down the Valley Way, he assisted an injured hiker.
He served in the Navy during WWII as a chief medical officer aboard the destroyer Orca. Following active naval service, he was assistant chief of medicine at the Veterans Administration Hospital in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1950, he moved to Maine to become chief of medicine at the Togus Veterans Administration Hospital where he developed a poison control center.
After the death of his first wife Priscilla Farrar Arnold who he married in 1939, he married Ernestine Dumais in 1972. He worked at Belgrade Health Center for medical Deverlopment in Augusta and later in private practice in rheumatology.
Besides his medical practice, he was active as president of the Kennebec Valley Girl Scout Council, the Abanaki Outing Club and he led an annual trip to Baxter State Park where he was a member of the advisory committee.
He leaves his wife Ernestine, a son, a daughter and three grandsons.