Robert Saut, Jr.
- On January 22, 2021
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Astronomer, Photographer, Conservationist
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of our brother Bob Saut Jr of Cecil, PA who passed away on January 18, 2021 at the age of 64. He was born Sept 11, 1956, the eldest of 5 children to Robert (Bob) Saut & Mary Jean (Cherry) Saut. He was the grandson to Alex Saut & Ida (Saut) Haney and Gertude (Sullivan) Cherry & Henry Cherry, all of whom are deceased.
Bob leaves behind his siblings, Rene Saut (Terry Miller), Rich Saut (Karen Saut), Randy Saut (Sarah Saut) and Rhonda Saut Tregay (David Tregay, Jr). He also leaves numerous nieces & nephews, aunts, uncles & cousins.
As a young boy Bob was enthralled with the Space Race to the Moon. He often launched model rockets and gazed through a small telescope. He graduated from Canon McMillan Senior High in 1975. After high school he served in the US Air Force, based in Korea for a short time and at Langley AFB in VA. He also belonged to the Air Force Reserves 9/11th Air Wing at Pittsburgh Airport. Bob attended Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics and became an aviation mechanic. He spent the majority of his career working for NorthWest Airlines (later bought by Delta) at the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport and at Duluth International Airport in Duluth, MN.
Bob also followed his dreams. Bob worked for US Science Foundation working in Antarctica for 18 months. He helped to build the dormitories and drove large Snow Cats across the ice. He assisted with experiments and data collection, explored ice caves, and took beautiful photos of penguins and the landscape.
Bob worked at Wallops Island, VA and at Edwards AFB in CA with NASA on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. It is the aircraft that carried the space shuttles across the country piggyback. He was selected to help remove the sensitive equipment from the aircraft after the Space Shuttle program was retired.
Bob loved his telescopes, his cameras & drones, and nature, often sharing his photographs of the stars, comets, the sun, eagles, and other wildlife. Every year Bob would attend the weekend long astronomy event held at Black Water Falls, WV given by the Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society. There he met many wonderful lifelong friends, Dianne Wood and Melissa Thorner and others through KVAS.
Bob loved science, history, reading and travel. He loved his friends and his family and was generous to all of them. He sent the funniest cards on birthdays and for holidays. He shared his photos to brighten our days. He will be greatly missed by all.
Arrangements are being handled by Pittsburgh Funeral & Cremation. A memorial service is being planned for later this summer. Donations in his memory can be made to Kanawha Valley Astronomical Society, PO Box 2132, Charleston, WV 25328 attn Rodney Waugh.
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night” (The Old Astronomer to His Pupil by Sarah Williams)
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