Bob Folsom grew up in Orono, Maine. He joined the Navy in 1944 where he first learned and then taught RADAR maintenance and repair. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and went on to complete a degree in Engineering Physics at the University of Maine. After attending graduate school at Penn State, he went to work at a National Lab in Washington DC. It was there he met the love of his life, Grace Martin. They were married on Valentine’s Day, 1954. Bob joined IBM in 1957 and moved with his young family to Poughkeepsie, NY where he worked in semiconductor process development and headed up the manufacture of computer components used in the Apollo moon-landing. They moved to Reston, VA in 1970 and then to Essex Junction, VT in 1977. Bob retired from IBM in 1987, and in 1989 Bob and Grace moved to Austin, TX where their daughter lived.
Grace began collecting buttons while living in Virginia, and Bob soon became interested too. He loved taking road trips, so in 1976 he and Grace drove to Florida for their first (of many) National Button Society conventions. Bob and Grace attended National every year from 1982 until 2010, when Bob’s health began to fail. At shows, he always helped with setting-up and worked to find better ways to do things, such as giving each award a number to facilitate putting competition trays in order. He also took pictures of winning trays of buttons for the editor to use in the bulletin.
In 1982, Bob was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Button Society and brought it into the computer age. He updated and digitized the classification system and set up the present side-by-side arrangement of Divisions I, III, and IX. He established a database and maintained it for more than 20 years, which made it easier to keep membership lists up-to-date and to print labels for bulletin mailings rather than needing to be typed by hand. Bob also worked several years as parliamentarian. In 1992, he was appointed “Executive Assistant to the president” and worked for 8 years in that position.
Bob was also involved with local clubs and state organizations. In Vermont, Bob and Grace were charter members of the VerdMont Club and were active in the New York State Button Society. Bob was president of the NYBS for a term and published the state bulletin for several years. After moving to Texas, Bob published the state bulletin there. Perhaps Bob will best be remembered for the favor buttons he made for state shows. One year he hand-made cabochons (polished semi-precious stones) set in silver. Another year he fashioned wooden buttons in various shapes that were painted with Art Deco designs by another member of the club.
Bob died peacefully in Austin on July 14, 2021 at age of 94.
