Robert Bentley Noland, Rehoboth old-timer, Realtor
Robert Bentley Noland, 85, passed away Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. after a long struggle with COPD. He was born May 3, 1930, in Washington to Dr. Stacy Taylor Noland II and Mildred Martenet Noland of Arlington, Va.
Although his early years were spend in Arlington, he crossed the Potomac to attend Sidwell Friends School, later the Hill School of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the Gilman School of Baltimore, and graduated from Western High School in Georgetown, D.C. After three years in the Coast Guard, patrolling the waterways of Florida and Caribbean islands, Rob ended his academic career with two years at University of Delaware, spending his summers with the Rehoboth Beach Patrol.
Happily for us all, he met up with his wife of 57 years, Frederica Thompson Noland on the beach at Henlopen Acres, and after a whirlwind courtship they were married in a grand wedding in Washington, D.C. in 1959. Then came the children, Victoria (Tory) Louise Detweiler, Stacy Taylor Noland IV and Bentley Roberts Noland. The family lived for over 30 years in the Washington suburb of Westmoreland Hills, Md., and at the summer house of Frederica's parents in Rehoboth.
Rob began his real estate career in residential sales, moving to commercial sales, leasing and development. He used his winning ways and sly humor to move happily through the fast growing market of Washington D.C. Rob finally hit his jackpot in the 1970s on Capitol Hill in Washington when living in the city became more desirable. He bought and sold, repaired and remodeled, with and without partners until he tired of that real estate rat race and considered another life.
Rob was independent and resourceful. He could do all the trades and often did, if possible. Despite his health challenges, Rob found the strength and determination to remain active around the house and in the garden. A year ago he climbed a ladder, a saw in one hand, oxygen around his neck, to trim a bushy cedar tree - much to the horror of Stacy‘s wife Stephanie.
After the 1980s Rob turned his attention to more fun and games when he and his wife transitioned to the family home in Henlopen Acres. He became a serious golfer wherever he was. He loved his Wednesday game with the Marsh Island Golf Gang and would play a round with anyone he knew. Until two years ago, he was still up for a game.
A long-term observer of the arts, at 72 on a painting trip with his wife to France he picked up a brush and made a painting. From then on with little instruction he painted colorful and bold pictures of racehorses, filling his time off the golf course in his studio in Rehoboth making his charming paintings.
He will be missed by his daughter, Tory, Frederick, Md., and her two children, Ryan (Washington, D.C.) and Bethany (Falls Church, Va.); his son, Stacy and wife Stephanie with their children, Jackie, Olivia, and Nick (Olney, Md.); and his son Bentley, wife Lynn and daughter Samantha (Silver Spring, Md.). Rob will also be missed by his sister, Anne Winslow of Boston Mass.; and his nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Philip, Sally, Priscilla and Henry.
Memorial donations can be made to Rehoboth Art League, Henlopen Acres, DE 19971, or to Sibley Memorial Hospital of Washington, D.C.
