Robert Arbuckle
Robert (Skip) Arbuckle, M.D., 65, passed away at his winter home in LaQuinta, Calif., on April 6, 2008, after a battle with cholangiocarcinoma.
Skip was born June 10, 1942, in Philadelphia and moved to Piedmont, Calif., as a toddler. He attended Piedmont High School and graduated from the University of California-Berkeley in 1963.
Skip graduated Alpha Omega Alpha from Temple University School of Medicine in 1968 and completed his residency at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston in orthopedic surgery in the Harvard Combined Programs.
In addition, he was a clinical instructor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. Skip was also an attending orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital in Boston, Winchester Hospital in Winchester, Mass., and Littleton Hospital in Littleton, N.H.
Between medical school and his surgical residency, Skip was a medical officer with the Army Medical Corps and served in Korea
Skip and his first wife, Barbara (Stiles), were married in 1964 and had three children, Robert "Skipper", Justin and Amy. Skip began his orthopedic practice in Littleton in 1977.
He served on the Littleton School Board and was a trustee of Littleton Regional Hospital. He played in a basketball league and coached senior league baseball, but he still found time for golf, tennis, guitar and banjo playing, and singing in the church choir.
In 1986, Skip married Shelly Connors, and they moved to Laconia, N.H., where he continued to practice orthopedics. He was chief of surgery at Lakes Region Hospital and served on the board of New Hampshire Public Radio. He was on the sidelines every fall weekend as medical consultant to the Laconia and Kennett high school football teams.
Skip retired from medicine in 2000, and he and Shelly moved to Whitefish, where he was a member of Iron Horse Golf Club. He has wintered in the Palm Springs area since then and was a member of Thunderbird Country Club and The Hideaway. With no bones to operate on, he honed his sawing skills making furniture. He was a man of few words, but you knew he truly liked you if he made something for you.
He is survived by Shelly, his wife of 22 years; his mother Irma (Gigi) Brandt, of San Mateo, Calif., who recently celebrated her 95th birthday; sons Robert Arbuckle, of Windemere, Fla., and Justin Arbuckle, of San Francisco, Calif.; daughter Amy LaCross, of Albuquerque, N.M.; step-daughters Kelsey Schmid-Sommer and Erica Connors, of Whitefish; his sister Suzanne Moore, of Cypress, Calif.; and five grandchildren.
A reception will be held at the family home in Lake LaQuinta on April 13, 2008, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A memorial service and celebration of life will be held in Napa, Calif., on May 25, 2008, at his son's vineyard.
Donations in his honor can be made to the Alpine Theatre Project or the North Valley Hospital Foundation.