Obituary of Robert Green Gildersleeve

Robert Green Gildersleeve died on July 20, 2013 in Arlington, VA after a brief illness. Bob was born in Mattituck on July 12, 1923 in the house which still stands on Pike Street. He was the second son and sixth child of James Andrew Gildersleeve, Jr. and Ethel May (Green). He lived for over 50 years in Northport, NY with his wife Julia (Freeborn), who predeceased him in 1996. Bob spent many hours tracing the Gildersleeve family lineage back to its beginnings in England in 1273. He was an 11th generation Gildersleeve family descendant counting back to Richard the 3rd, who first came to Southold Township in 1635. Through his maternal great grandmother, Anna Wickham (Reeve) Gildersleeve, he traced his lineage back to one of Mattituck’s first Puritan settlers, William Furrier. Likewise on his mother’s Corwin/Green line he also traced the history back to one of the original settlers of the area, Matthias Corwin. Early family members were staunch patriots and many of them served as officers in the Revolutionary War. Bob graduated from Syracuse University and worked for many years as a Public Librarian on Long Island. He was an avid antique collector, enjoyed reading about Queen Elizabeth and other members of the British Royal Family, and doing crafts of all kinds. Bob is survived by his daughter, Sara Gildersleeve Eakes of Arlington, her husband Garey, and granddaughter, Samantha. He is also survived by other members of the extended Gildersleeve family in the area, including his sister-in-law Pauline Gildersleeve of Mattituck. Services will be held at a later date in Mattituck followed by burial in Old Bethany Cemetery.