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Former partners remember Bob Suckling as a well respected man and a leader in the local architecture industry.
Robert M. Suckling, 85, formerly of Altoona, died Tuesday in Bethany Village, Mechanicsburg.
Suckling joined the firm that later became known as Hayes Large Architects in 1957 and from 1974 until his retirement in December 1994, he was a partner in the firm, which had offices in Altoona, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
"He was a mentor of mine. We spent a lot of time traveling together throughout Pennsylvania. Bob was one of the most genuine, soft-spoken gentlemen I worked with," said Rick Karcher, a partner in the firm from 1990 to 2001.
Karcher said Suckling was an expert in school construction.
"Bob was one of the patriarchs of K-12 school design and had a great understanding of Plancon and reimbursement. He was revered and respected in our profession," Karcher said. "Bob always thought that if you could save or preserve an existing building, that was the best way to go. That is where I got my passion for saving existing buildings."
Suckling was also a very spiritual man.
"What Bob gave to the profession was a sense of spirituality. He believed once you could find spirituality in a design, it was more appreciated and accepted by the user," Karcher said.
Suckling was also a mentor to Dwight Knouse, who joined the firm in 1979.
"He was like a grandfather figure to me. He knew his stuff. You could go to him as a resource for anything, especially handicapped accessibility, which he made his specialty," Knouse said. "I consider him to be one of my greatest mentors."
Robert Wedge and Richard Fruth also remember Suckling well.
"He was a real gentleman, a very good architect and very trustworthy. His clients liked him. He could produce a good project based on a team concept and he could produce a project at a profit," said Wedge, who was a partner in the 1970s.
"He was very calm. He could talk to anyone about anything. He was a terrific conversationalist. He was extremely calm in the way he presented and conducted himself. I don't think I ever saw him mad," said Fruth, who worked with Suckling in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. "He was a common-sense person working to come up with a project that would meet the needs of his constituents."
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday at Duncansville Evangelical Lutheran Church, where a funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. with Pastor Jaime Olson and Vicar Amanda McCaffery officiating. Interment will be at Presbyterian Cemetery, Hollidaysburg.
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.