Robert Ellis Shultz

FALMOUTH – Robert Ellis Shultz, 81, passed away at Oceanview in Falmouth, surrounded by the love of his family, after a long battle with congestive heart failure.

Rob was born on May 17, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pa., the son of Peggy Fisher and Ellis Shultz. Growing up in Penn Valley with his older sister, Sally Wood, Rob attended Episcopal Academy and Denison University (Class of ’65). After college, Rob volunteered with the Peace Corps for two years in Venezuela. His love of Spanish culture and language stayed with him always.

Rob earned a master’s in Education from UMass Amherst. While there, Rob took an Outward Bound course in Maine, which shaped the rest of his life. His instructor, Lance Lee, took the group to Machias, where Rob met yurt-builder, Bill Copperthwaite. Lance and Bill were leaders in the ‘handmade life’ during the ‘back-to-the-land’ movement of the early ’70s. For them, building wooden boats, playing Celtic fiddle tunes, and community contra dances exemplified the creative life. Rob was hooked. He attended contra dances well into his 70s and was happiest when working with his hands.

Rob was married to Molly Bill from 1970-1976. Molly and Rob both worked with Lance Lee at the Maine Maritime Museum’s Apprenticeshop. In the late ‘70s, Rob worked at Shelter Institute in Bath, where he became one of the house-building school’s beloved teachers. Rob’s specialty of yurt-building expanded to include timber frame homes, and he became a successful contractor, building homes and additions throughout mid-coast Maine.

Rob was married to Abbie Sewall from 1978-1990. The couple lived rustically for three years in a 15-foot diameter yurt built by Rob. In 1983, they moved to Arrowsic with their daughter, Emma, and son, Thatcher. During this time, Rob renovated an old farmhouse and built a large pond next to the Spinney Mill marsh. To this day, the neighborhood continues to ice-skate on the heart-shaped pond inspired by Rob’s vision.

Over the next 16 years, Rob lived with his longtime partner, Deirdre Barton and daughter, Maria. He delighted in crossing the Kennebec by boat to arrive at the Bath Farmer’s Market. Living in Arrowsic for almost 40 years, Rob participated in building the town’s new Fire Station around 2019.

Rob will be remembered for his love of music and contra dancing, his voracious reading of The New Yorker magazine, and for the living spaces he built for others.

His legacy lives on in his children, Emma Sewall Buttfield, Thatcher Shultz, Calla Maria Barton; nieces and nephews; family and friends.

A memorial gathering will be held on Aug. 1, at 10:30 a.m., at the Foreside Community Church in Falmouth.

In lieu of flowers,

donations can be sent to

The Range Light Keepers

in Arrowsic.