Robert Benall Pritchard, Educator and World Traveler.

Robert Benall Pritchard of Granville NY died on Good Shephard Sunday,

April 26, 2026, 95-years-old.

Robert's passion in life was traveling, and he started out in style. Born

on November 10, 1930, the only son of Isaac Townsend Pritchard and

Elsie Williams Pritchard, he took his first trip home from the hospital in

his Aunt Margaret Lasher's Packard Eight limousine. He spent his

childhood between his parent's home on Quaker Street in Granville and

the family's summer camp on Lake St. Catherine, VT.

After graduating from Granville High School in 1948, Robert spent a

year at the New York Military Academy in Cornwall on Hudson, NY and

then earned a Bachelors degree in English from Hobart College in

Geneva, NY, and a Masters in Education at St. Lawrence College in

Canton, NY.

In 1953, Robert wed Elizabeth "Jane" Dorance of Hebron, NY, at Trinity

Episcopal Church in Granville. They were married 59 years until Jane's

death in 2012.

After their wedding, Robert and Jane spent the first part of their

honeymoon in Canada before driving back for the first of many summer

days, weeks and years at Camp Marvilla on Lake St. Catherine. The

couple then moved to Arlington, VA where Robert served in the

Presidential Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at

Arlington Cemetery and at the Eisenhower White House.

After his military service, Robert and Jane moved to Fort Plain, NY,

where he taught English, and later to Dolgeville, NY, where he worked

as an English teacher, Elementary principal, High School principal and

ultimately School District Superintendent, before retiring in 1985.

During his decades in Dolgeville, he inspired thousands of

students…hundreds of whom sent messages to him during his last days

telling him how he affected their lives.

During his years in Dolgeville, Robert also did stints as Principal of the

Salisbury NY School District, as well as Sales Manager at the Daniel

Green Slipper Company.

But as satisfying was his career, Robert's real obsession was to see the

world. As a child, he would ride to New Jersey to deliver slate with his

father. In the 1950s, he loaded up a new Packard with Jane, his

parents and a Dalmatian dog, and drove cross country to California and

back. Another milestone was when Robert, Jane and 5-year-old son,

Mark, took their first airplane ride for a stay at the Intercontinental

Hotel in Ponce, Puerto Rico. After that, Robert's bags were always

packed and ready for the next adventure.

What adventures they were. Summer-long study courses in East Africa.

Fulbright programs in India. Teaching English in Jamaica, Greece and

China. Cruises throughout the Caribbean, Atlantic, Pacific --even down

the Danube River. Train trips across the U.K., Europe, India and Mexico.

And many a winter spent in the South of Spain. He never slowed down.

In fact, he started 2024 with a month in Torremolinos, Spain and closed

it out with a cruise to the Alaskan Inside Passage.

And he renewed his passport for another 10 years in the beginning of

2025. All 26 pages are clean with no visa stamps…ready to go.

Robert is survived by his son Mark R. Pritchard and Mark's husband

Sergey Goncharov of Lake St. Catherine, VT.; Three grandchildren:

Katherine B. Terry and her husband Joseph Terry of New York, NY and

Dorset, VT; Isaac J.B. Pritchard and his partner Taylor Gould of West

Rupert, VT, and Owen R.B. Pritchard of Dorset, VT; two great-

grandchildren Charles J. Terry and Wyatt W. Terry of New York, NY and

Dorset, VT; and his grandchildren's mother, Margaret B. Pritchard of

Dorset, VT.

A memorial service will be held at 10 am on Friday, May 1 at St. Paul's

Episcopal Church, Wells, VT, followed by his internment at the

Mettowee Cemetery, Granville, NY. At the end of the services, friends

are invited to join Robert's family for refreshments at St. Paul's Parish

house in Wells.