Robert Eaton, AIA 1942-2024 After suffering a brain hemorrhage on New Year’s Day, Robert Jan Eaton, 81, died peacefully on Jan. 3, 2024, with Susan, his wife of 38 years, at his side. Bob was the only child born to Jesse H. and Elizabeth (Belle) Marquez Carson Eaton on Oct. 22, 1942, in Kansas City, Missouri. He spent his youth in Gila, New Mexico, where his parents operated a chicken ranch. He graduated from Cliff High School in 1960 and attended New Mexico State University in Las Cruces before transferring to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1967. Upon graduating, Bob found himself strongly desired by the local draft board during the Vietnam Conflict and saw the wisdom of attending Officer Candidate School. He served in the U.S. Army at several stateside posts and in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam as a Platoon leader. Bob was lucky enough to be in the first reduction of troops in 1969 and fulfilled his service stationed in Hawaii. He was honorably discharged from Combat Engineers Unit Command in 1970 and began a 50-year career in Architecture, which brought him to Utah. Although known as Stretch for much of his life, he began his professional career as Bob. His work left a legacy of projects in Utah, California, and Nevada. Bob was president of Eaton Architecture, which was based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The portfolio of the firm included work in the industrial/government, healthcare, performing arts, aviation, retail/commercial, residential, public and education sectors. He spent his last few years working with the Navajo tribe in New Mexico and Arizona, designing schools, government buildings and medical facilities. Bob served his state and profession by serving on the Professional Regulatory Board for the State of Utah and as president of both the local and statewide organizations of the American Institute of Architects. He also served as a School Board Member for the Salt Lake City District School for the Arts. In his last years, he turned to writing as a hobby and published a fictional novel based upon his ancestor’s lives as pioneers in southwest New Mexico. He felt an urgency to complete that novel before Christmas and was blessed to see that accomplishment in print prior to his passing. Bob is survived by his beloved wife, Susan Rae Wiser Eaton; three children: Heidi Vail (Sam) Wainer, Joshua Ladd (Suzette) Eaton and Christina (David) Riches; seven grandchildren: Tobin, Kai, Isaac, Emery, Madeline, Nicholas and Sydney; his first wife Merla Jean Cook Eaton and many beloved family members and friends. Is your business in the dark? ADVERTISE IN THIS MAGAZINE AND SHINE A LIGHT ON YOUR COMPANY. QR Code: website /ad-space CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE. 801.676.9722 • 855.747.4003 sales@thenewslinkgroup.com 22 REFLEXION
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