Robert 'Bob' Elton

Robert Lee Elton, 80, passed away peacefully at Lakes Regional Healthcare, Spirit Lake, IA on June 6, 2015. Bob was born on March 13, 1935 to Rudy and Helen Elton in Caledonia, MN. Bob graduated from Creston High School, Creston, IA, in 1953. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin where he was awarded a tuition scholarship to play the trombone in the marching and concert bands. After completing a summer internship in West Virginia with Union Carbide, the corporation awarded him a full scholarship to complete his last two years at UWI. Bob graduated fourth in a class of 80 students and received a full fellowship to the University of Michigan where he earned a Masters Degree in chemical engineering in 1958. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for a year of research study at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim, Norway. In 1960 Bob began a 33 year career with the 3M Company in St. Paul, MN. He first worked in the Reflective Products Division and did initial research into a product called diamond sheeting. His work on this high intensity sheeting took over 10 years to develop and paved the way for sheeting on instructional signs. Bob was proud of his contribution to the sheeting on road signs such as 'stop,' 'yield,' 'children playing' as it impacted safety. This same technology is found on motor vehicles and other products. In Bob's later years with 3M he was responsible for international aspects and traveled extensively to 3M plants worldwide. Bob married Lois Eugster in 1958 and they sailed to Norway on a steamship in time for Bob to begin his studies as a Fulbright scholar at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. Bob was of Norwegian ancestry and he retained fond memories of their year in Norway and travels in Europe while there. Bob and Lois parented three children: David, Cathy and Shari. He and Lois divorced in 1981 and remained on good terms. Bob married Dianne Woltz Hickerson from Spirit Lake, IA , on Makena Beach in Maui, HI, December 10, 2003. They enjoyed 11 years of marriage repeating their vows in Maui in January 2015. Together they enjoyed walking, hiking, cooking, biking, golfing, and going to concerts, the theater and science lectures at the University of Arizona. He especially loved following the U of A Wildcats basketball team. The couple divided their time between their home near Lake Okoboji, IA and their home in the foothills of Tucson, AZ. They enjoyed walking by the lake in the summer and gorgeous sunsets and mountains at their winter home. They traveled extensively in the United States visiting many friends and treasured their trips to New Zealand, South Africa and Norway. Bob lived a vibrant life filled with many activities and interests. He crafted stained glass panels, invented a sandblasting process for precision engraving of glass, and sang with the Minnesota chorale. He played basketball and tennis in his earlier years and was a life long golfer who was proud to score his age in 2011. He enjoyed a seven mile hike in Sabino Canyon, near his Tucson home, until age 79. He was an avid reader, a keen cribbage player and loved classical music, especially J S Bach. Left to cherish his memory are his wife Dianne, daughter Cathy Elton and her children, Sam and Joe; daughter Shari Rilley and her husband Pat and their children Brittney and J P, his brothers Gary Elton and his wife Mary Anne and Ronald Elton and his wife Jane. Also stepsons Mark Hickerson, Steve Hickerson and his wife Sue, his step daughter Mary Vande Brake and her husband Steve and nine step grandchildren: Katherine, Emily, April, Meredith, Kyra, David, Drew, Nora and Caden. A 'Celebration of Life' Memorial Service will be held at the Warner Funeral Home in Spencer at 10:00 am on Sunday, July 5, with internment of ashes at the Lakeview Garden Cemetery in Okoboji, IA. The family suggests memorials to Camp Foster YMCA, Campers Scholarship Fund.

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