David Templeman Jr.

MISSOULA - Longtime Polson resident David Robbins “Bob” Templeman Jr., 92, passed away Wednesday, December. 17, 2008, in Missoula. He was born in Bristol, Conn., on March 10, 1916, to David Robbins and Blanche Sergent Templeman.





Bob attended high school in New Britain, Conn., graduating in 1936. He was a member of the local Boy Scout drum and bugle corps and played drums in the high school orchestra.





During the Depression years, Bob helped to support his family by working a paper route, taking care of the family’s garden plot, and hunting for rabbits, pheasants and squirrels. He developed a strong work ethic and appreciation for family by working on his grandfather’s farm and his uncle’s commercial fishing boat.





Bob graduated from Bliss Electrical Engineering School in Washington, D.C., in 1937. He was employed for nine years by the General Electric Company, Plainville Division. As an electrical engineer, he was in charge of industrial control. During World War II, while employed at General Electric, one of his assignments was to design electrical components for a secret project; a project which he later learned was the atomic bomb.





On July 9, 1938, Bob married the lovely Virginia “Ginnie” Ruth Elton. They enjoyed a very loving relationship until her death in 1978. Bob and Ginnie were blessed with one daughter, Sharon Lee Templeman.





Bob was a deacon of the Plainville Congregational Church, the Plainville Rotary Club, a director of the Plainville Visiting Nurses Association Board and was a member of the Masonic Order of Plainville, Conn.





In 1946, Bob joined his parents in the formation of the D.R. Templeman Small Springs Company of Plainville. The fine wire springs they produced were used in devices for the electrical, medical, and jewelry industries. Bob designed and built the machines used to manufacture springs used in NASA’s first moon mission and the first human heart transplant. Bob retired from the presidency of the company in 1980 and as chairman of the board in 1982. The company is still operating and currently employs 30 people.





In the spring of 1980, Bob moved to Polson, where he designed and built a beautiful home on 45 acres overlooking Flathead Lake. For over 20 years, he was easily recognized driving around Polson in his yellow truck with his Brittany spaniel as co-pilot. Bob loved horses and hunting dogs. He was an active member of the Mission Valley Back Country Horsemen. Many summers included trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness with his trusty horse, Jake.





Bob moved to the Missoula area in 2005, to continue his dialysis treatments and to be closer to his granddaughter, Kate Templeman, and her husband, Mike Wright. He enjoyed spending time at their ranch in the Bitterroot Valley where he could visit his Peruvian horses and his cherished Brittany. Ever a wealth of knowledge, he happily provided the ideas for many of their ranch improvements.





Bob is survived by his daughter, Sharon Lee Templeman of Shrewsbury, Mass.; granddaughter Katherine “Kate” Templeman (Mike Wright) of Florence; granddaughter Kim Napoleone (Doug) and great-grandchildren Joshua and Sarah of Worcester, Mass.; grandson Arthur Pierce (Nancy) and her children Christopher, Elizabeth and Spencer of Leominster, Mass.; and several cousins. He is also survived by his extended family, Sue and Duane Wright of Helena; Joni, Loren and Paige Stormo of Missoula; and Lindsey Stormo of Portland.





A memorial service for Bob will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, December. 30 at the University Congregational Church, 405 University Avenue, Missoula. Internment will be in the Spring of 2009 at the family plot in New Britain, Conn. Donations in Bob’s memory can be made to the Mission Valley Animal Shelter, 239 North Reservoir Road, Polson, MT 59860 or the Polson City Library, 2 First Avenue East, Polson, MT 59860.





The family would like to extend our deep appreciation to Dr. Margaret Eddy and the entire Dialysis Staff for their years of care and concern for this wonderful man.




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