Front Range Member Bob Schacht Gone at 69

Robert Marshall Schacht, 69, passed away in his home in Flagstaff on December 30, 2012. Before moving to Flagstaff, Bob was a founding member of the great Fort Collins, Colorado-based band, Front Range.

Born September 18, 1943 in Racine, Wisconsin to Alice and Robert Schacht, Bob was the second of five children.

In 1946 the family moved to Madison. They were a musical family, and Bob pursued his love of music throughout his life, singing tenor and playing stand-up bass in bluegrass bands and guitar in church groups.

After graduating from Madison’s Wisconsin High School in 1961, and from the University of Wisconsin in 1965, Bob earned a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Michigan, specializing in archeology.

He made Iran the focus of his archeological research, doing field work there in the 1970s. He taught anthropology at the universities of Maryland and Houston, Wayne State, Ganado College (where he met his first wife Charlotte Goodluck, later divorced), and Northern Arizona University, before obtaining a research and grant support position at the Northern Arizona University Institute for Human Development in Flagstaff, where he worked for many years.  Bob was a long-time member of the Flagstaff, Arizona Friends of Traditional Music.

In 2004 he moved to Honolulu to work as Research Director of the Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. There he also met and (in 2008) married Nel Riddle (now Riddle-Schacht).   Bob became involved with the local bluegrass scene and was instrumental in helping form the non-profit organization, Bluegrass Hawai'i, with his experience as a former FFOTM Board member and bylaws and articles of incorporation adapted from those of FFOTM.  Following his retirement in 2008 they returned to Flagstaff in 2009.

Bob was active in the Episcopal Church during his many years in Flagstaff. He also was an avid progressive activist, both on the web and in local political groups, promoting human rights and social justice. He was tireless as his family’s archivist and historian, compiling biographies of his mother and grandmothers and researching family ancestry. He also continued his review of his archeological research in Iran, working with his mentor and colleague Henry Wright.

Bob is survived by his beloved wife Nel and her children and their grandchildren; siblings Richard, Charles, Anita and James; and their spouses, children and grandchildren.

Former band member Bill Vernieu said “Bob was an avid progressive political activist and tireless promoter of human rights and social justice. The world is definitely a better place because of Bob's presence and service.”

A memorial service for Bob will be held at the Flagstaff Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, 423 North Beaver St near downtown Flagstaff, this Saturday afternoon, January 12, 2013 at 3:00 pm, preceded by a reception at 1:30 pm, where family and friends will gather. The Joan Wyatt Band will be playing some of Bob's favorite music.

(l-r) Bob Schacht, Mike Falk, Joan Wyatt, Bill Verneiu

c.2002