Veteran Realtor Passes
Robert Alexander Studwell passed away on March 13, two months before his 90th Birthday. He was born in Brooklyn on May 13, 1923 and moved to Garden City when he was three months old. He graduated from Garden City High School in 1940 where he excelled in athletics and was awarded a football scholarship to Colgate University. A leg injury after his freshman year ended his days of playing football so he transferred to the Coast Guard Academy in Fort Schuyler, New York where he graduated with an engineering degree and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Navy. He served as a second engineer during World War II on oil tankers crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
After the war, he worked as an engineer for the Plaza Hotel in New York City and joined the Naval Reserves. He served his country again during the Korean War. Studwell’s father had founded a real estate company, JKC Studwell, soon after his son was born. After his father passed away, the younger Studwell ran the family real estate business for 40 years.
During his real estate career, he had many accomplishments, assisting countless families to purchase homes, organizing the first condominium complex in Garden City, and constructing the Mineola Medical Center. Studwell was a New York real estate broker, a Charter Realty Investor (CRI), and a Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI).
Studwell was a member of the Kiwanis club for 30 years, served as its president in 1959 and was also the President of the Long Island Chapter of the Columbia Society of Real Estate Appraisers from 1963 to 1964.
He was very proud to call Garden City his home – the place he lived and worked almost his entire life. Studwell loved everything about the town and the residents. He was known by many and was easy to spot driving around town in his convertible with the top down.
Studwell and his wife Joyce retired to Amelia Island, Florida in 1993. They first lived on the Amelia Island Plantation and then moved to Summer Beach, Golfside South in 1995. During his retirement, this naval veteran loved taking cruises to see different parts of the world and enjoyed playing golf. He was very proud to have hit a hole in one on April 6, 2002. He attended the gym at the Amelia Island Plantation often and loved driving his 1982 Buick Riviera Convertible with the top down.
Robert Studwell is survived by his wife Joyce, a daughter Sondra Whitmeyer of Katy, TX, a daughter Jacquelynne Hurst of Dallas, TX, two grandsons Kyle and Bryce, a son Robert Studwell of Long Beach, Long Island, granddaughter Courtney, and sister Carol Irwin of Hartford, CT. He is also survived by four stepsons, Craig Thoet, Roger Thoet, Bruce Thoet (Missy), Lance Thoet (Debra), 7 step-granddaughters and 2 step-grandsons, as well as his best friend Rexx, a rescued Tyrolean Hound dog. A private memorial service will be held in Garden City at a later date. Donations can be made to the Nassau Humane Society, Fernandina Beach, FL.
