DAVIS, Calif. – Robert “Bob” Deering, 90, Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, died peacefully Dec. 1, 2010, at his home. He was born in Augusta to Arthur and Freda (Bowman) Deering. After Freda’s death, Bob and his three sisters were raised by their father and stepmother, Crystal (Bowman). Bob spent most of his childhood in Orono on the University of Maine campus, where his father was director of the Agricultural Extension and later dean of the College of Agriculture. Bob earned a Bachelor of Science degree in ornamental horticulture, with a major in landscape design from the University of Maine in 1942, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He received a doctorate in landscape architecture in 1948 from Cornell University. In 1949 Bob joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis, Calif., and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the Netherlands in 1954. In 1955 he began a private practice and in 1960 began a 17-year career with California State Parks. Upon retirement he taught landscape architecture at King Faisal University, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In 1996 Bob was honored as a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Bob is survived by his wife, Alice (Dake) of Davis, Calif.; sisters, Mary Wirths of Falmouth and Helen Piper of Damarascotta; daughter, Roberta and husband, Greg Ptucha, of Sacramento, Calif.; son, Paul and wife, Annalisa, of Davis, Calif.; daughter, Carol and partner, Doug Kennedy, of Berkeley, Calif.; five grandchildren, many nieces and nephews. Burial will be in the historic Deering Cemetery, Denmark, Maine.
ROBERT B. DEERING, PH.D.
