Robert Green Gildersleeve

Robert Green Gildersleeve died July 20, 2013, in Arlington, Va., after a brief illness. He was 90 years old.

Bob was born in Mattituck July 12, 1923, in a house that still stands on Pike Street. He was the second son and sixth child of Ethel May (Green) and James Andrew Gildersleeve Jr. He lived for over 50 years in Northport, with his wife, Julia (née Freeborn), who predeceased him in 1996.

Bob spent many hours tracing the Gildersleeve family lineage back to its beginnings in England in 1273. He was an 11th-generation member of the Gildersleeve family (counting back to Richard the Third), who first came to Southold Township in 1635. Through his maternal great-grandmother, Anna Wickham (Reeve) Gildersleeve, he traced his lineage back to one of Mattituck’s first Puritan settlers, William Furrier. Likewise, through his mother’s Corwin/Green line, he also traced the history back to one of the original settlers of the area, Matthias Corwin. Early family members were staunch patriots and many of them served as officers in the Revolutionary War.

Bob graduated from Syracuse University and worked for many years as a public librarian on Long Island. He was an avid antique collector, enjoyed reading about Queen Elizabeth and other members of the British royal family and doing crafts of all kinds.

Bob is survived by his daughter, Sara Gildersleeve Eakes of Arlington; her husband, Garey; and granddaughter Samantha. He is also survived by other members of the extended Gildersleeve family in the area, including his sister-in-law, Pauline Gildersleeve of Mattituck.

Services will be held in Mattituck at a later date, followed by burial at Old Bethany Cemetery.

This is a paid notice.