Robert John Emmons Ph.D., a widely admired philanthropist whose generosity and board service strengthened dozens of local organizations, died July 23 at his Montecito home. He was 92.

Emmons, affectionately and universally known as “Bob,” was named Santa Barbara’s Man of the Year in 2010.

He devoted decades to supporting nonprofit organizations throughout Santa Barbara County, particularly in health care, education and the arts.

Together with his wife of 44 years, Christine “Chris” Emmons, he contributed to local institutions that touched nearly every corner of the community, including the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation, the Mosher Foundation and the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts.

Those who knew Emmons remembered him not just for his generosity, but for his humility, curiosity and constant desire to keep learning.

“I refer to him as my Renaissance man,” said Ed Birch, president and CEO of the Mosher Foundation, who invited Emmons to join its board more than 20 years ago.

Birch described Emmons as someone who made a difference quietly, motivated by knowledge, and with a joy in sharing and a deep commitment to helping others.

“Here was a guy who really made a difference in a lot of ways and without the fanfare that some really require,” Birch told Noozhawk.

“He simply made it on the basis of his personality, on the depth of his knowledge and his interest in serving others in a variety of ways.”

Born on Sept. 18, 1932, in Trenton, New Jersey, and raised in Detroit, Emmons grew up in a family that Birch said prioritized education.

“He had the advantage of a mother who made sure that he had had all the opportunities in the world to learn,” Birch said.

Seizing those opportunities, Emmons ran track as an undergraduate at Michigan State University but transferred to Detroit’s Wayne State University, where he was named all conference in track and received his bachelor’s degree in economics.

He received his law degree from the University of Michigan while playing semi-pro ice hockey to help pay for law school tuition. He later earned a Ph.D. in economics from Santa Clara University.

Emmons put his degrees to work in a wide-ranging career that spanned corporate leadership, academia and business consulting.

He led several publicly traded companies, including serving as CEO of Smart & Final and United Rentals.

He also held leadership roles, such as vice president and general manager of Baskin-Robbins and managing partner of Emmons Capital. According to Birch, he brought a strong ethical focus to every role he took on.

“I placed him at the very pinnacle of effective leaders,” he said, “people who reflected strong ethics and values and who did things in the right way.”

As an example, in 2008, Westmont College bestowed on Emmons and his wife, the Westmont Medal, which is given annually to recognize community members who embody the college’s Christian character of integrity, service, compassion, responsibility, faithfulness, discipline and generosity.

“Bob Emmons is one of the most remarkable human beings I have ever known,” said Westmont President Gayle Beebe, who met Emmons in his first week at the Christian liberal arts school in Montecito in 2007.

“He was super intelligent, kind, gracious, always hopeful, easily persuaded, and universally capable of discussing almost anything …,” Beebe told Noozhawk, calling him “a blessing.”

Beebe said everything was on the table in their discussions.

“He was always asking questions about what’s going well, what’s challenging and where’s the next horizon,” he recalled. “He loved our plans for Westmont Downtown and celebrated our opening and rapid expansion.”

Taking a professor’s role at the USC Marshall School of Business from 1971 to 1982, Emmons shared his international marketing experience with students while continuing to consult in the business world.

Ron Gallo, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Louisville, led the Santa Barbara Foundation as president and CEO from 2008 to 2019. He worked closely with Emmons on several crucial community fundraising initiatives.

“Bob was a very special man,” he told Noozhawk. “The breadth of his knowledge and the depth of his passion and compassion were electric to be around.

“I remember him often in a myriad of situations and conversations. I feel gratitude and joy for having had the opportunity to know him.”

Passion for the South Coast

Emmons’ love for Santa Barbara, which he had called home since 1984, was reflected in his and his wife’s involvement with local nonprofit organizations like CAMA (Community Arts Music Association), the Dream Foundation, LifeChronicles and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.

He was a past board chairman of the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Lotusland, which he led for a decade.

He also was deeply involved with the old Marymount of Santa Barbara, Laguna Blanca School, Westmont College and All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church.

In 2016, the couple was honored with the Father Virgil Remarkable Lives Award for their lasting impact on Santa Barbara. The award was bestowed by LifeChronicles, which creates legacy videos for families facing loss.

“Bob and Chris really value what we do because they understand what it does for people,” said Kate Carter, founder of LifeChronicles and a longtime friend.

Greg Gorga, executive director of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, said Emmons had a strong appreciation for marine history and was among the first donors to a campaign that helped the museum ease early financial burdens.

“If they hadn’t completed that campaign, we would not have been able to really keep the doors open,” Gorga said of the Emmonses, both lifelong sailors.

Emmons had a deep love for the ocean, and with that came a love for writing poetry, which he compiled into a 2007 book, Seafarers: Poems of the Sea. Gorga said Emmons donated all proceeds from the book to the museum.

In addition to poetry, Emmons wrote several other books — among them the critically acclaimed Other Places, Other Times and The Road to Paradise — and his curiosity led him to explore sculpting

Birch said he even traveled to Florence, Italy, to study the craft of sculpting.

Emmons went on to create several pieces that were displayed in galleries and local art spaces, as well as writing a 2018 book, It’s Never Too Late: Reinventing Yourself at Any Age.

Birch described Emmons as “a very fine sculptor with his hands” and said he embodied a lifelong pursuit of learning.

Wanting to share his outlook, Emmons later chronicled his approach to aging in another book, 6,000 Sunrises: Making the Most of Your Super Senior Years, in which he encouraged others to embrace later life with purpose and gratitude.

In his last two years, Emmons enjoyed attending Friendship Center, where he recently was honored as “Prom King” at the Montecito adult day services center’s senior prom.

“He’s going to be very, very missed,” Carter said. “He was just such a special man to so many people.”

Emmons is survived by his four children: Brad (wife Nora), Cathy (husband Tim) and Christopher (wife Mary Ann) with his late first wife, Connie; and Ryan (wife Grace) with his wife, Chris.

He is also survived by eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

A funeral service is scheduled for Sept. 11 at All Saints By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 83 Eucalyptus Lane in Montecito, followed by a celebration of life. Interment will be at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Dream Foundation, Friendship Center or VNA Health.