Robert graduated from the public schools in 1948. He attended Long Island University and The Johns Hopkins University (A.B., 1951). At the University of Michigan (M.A., 1952) he met andmarried Carol LaSage (dec.1988) in 1955. They raised four children.

Robert was employed briefly at Bausch & Lomb, Rochester Institute of Technology, and as Assistant Dean of Engineering and Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Cleveland State University until1962 when he came to the University of Delaware as an Instructor (Ph.D., 1965). He rose to Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (2003). He authored many research papersand books and was Visiting Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at M.I.T. (1972-73).

Robert was a lifelong student of American History, a colleague stimulated his interest in Benjamin Franklin. He has taught several large classes and completed a manuscript," BenjaminFranklin, An American Innovator". He published research on the first silver dollars of the United States and formed one of the largest collections of them over 45 years.

To read the complete article, see:
Robert Martin Stark (http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/delawareonline/obituary.aspx?pid=187298130)

In addition to being a JRCS member, Mr. Stark was also a member and Secretary of the Bust Dollar Club, which met from 1977 to 1980 at the home of its Chairman, Jules Reiver. Bob Stark was also theEditor of the Bust Dollar Club's newsletter, The Lettered Edge.

Even though Bob Stark and I were both Wilmington Coin Club members, we didn't officially meet until 3 years ago at David Perkins' table at the Baltimore Whitman Expo. I enjoyed listening to bothof them discuss their shared passion for Early U.S. dollars. I am also fortunate to have obtained from Mr. Perkins, Mr. Stark's copy of the Variety Identification Manual for United States HalfDimes, by Jules Reiver. The manual contains an inscription in the front cover that reads "To BOB STARK, WITH THANKS FOR HIS ASSISTANCE, (signed) Jules Reiver 10/15/84."

After that initial meeting, Mr. Stark and I always got together to talk during social time at Wilmington Coin Club meetings. Of course we usually discussed various Bust coin topics. We alsoe-mailed from time to time, and our last correspondence was on August 17, 2017. He wrote that he was happy to read in the JR Newsletter that I had met "a dear colleague of decades past, JohnMcCloskey", at the ANA World's Fair of Money.

To read the complete JR NEwsletter issue, see:
JR Newsletter: 26 November 2017 (371)(http://mailchi.mp/0778b80578ee/jr-newsletter-26-november-2017-371?e=9b1d009ea9)