Robert Daniel Kruidenier Jr. passed away Tuesday, February 24, at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC-Union) from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 68.
Born in Atlanta, GA, Robert grew up in Decatur, AL, and graduated from Decatur High School (1964) and Birmingham-Southern College (1968). After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, he worked for Kodak and Campus Crusade for Christ before pursuing his love of the outdoors and fine carpentry in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lived until 2012. He served as a volunteer and resident naturalist and tour guide at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro, NM, an avocation fueled by countless hours spent on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge outside Decatur as a youth. He took copious notes and photos on the migration and behavior of sandhill cranes and other birds and helped lead Sandhill Crane Behavior workshops as part of the annual Festival of the Cranes each November at the Refuge. Robert also volunteered with HawkWatch International and was principal photographer for the 1997 book, Hawk Highway in the Sky: Watching Raptor Migration.
Robert is survived by a brother, William Kruidenier of Stallings, NC; a sister, Amanda Kruidenier Griffin of Gainesville, GA; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family is grateful for the loving care provided by the staff of White Oak Manor, Waxhaw, NC, during the last three years of Robert’s life.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations in Robert’s memory be made to the Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 340, San Antonio, NM 87832.
