Robert Nicholas Primo ’55

Robert Nicholas Primo ’55 passed away on July 10, 2010. He was a lifelong resident of Syracuse, New York. Classmates Doug Melville, Jim Nelsen and John Delisola remembered funny stories about him, mostly dealing with football, but could not explain when or graduated or why he was not pictured in the 1954 or 1955 Aegis. The College archives reveal that Bob had received a notice of separation in January of 1954. But in a letter addressed to the administration June 11, 1954, 11 members of the Dartmouth Club of Syracuse recommended reinstatement. (In the meantime Bob enrolled in Syracuse University’s night school while working three jobs during the day to help with family expenses and his tuition. That summer he took five courses while running a dry cleaning route in the afternoon.) By October 1954 Bob received a notice of reinstatement from the trustees and spent his last semester at Dartmouth. On June 11 the College voted him a degree. Football was a passion for Bob and as a bruising fullback he played for North High School in Syracuse, received his numerals at Dartmouth and varsity letter in 1953-54. After graduation, while attending Syracuse Law School, he was an assistant coach at North High, played and subsequently coached in a semi-pro league and found time to coach a youth team. In 1959 he received his law degree and embarked on a career which involved ownership, development and leasing both commercial and residential units including several strip malls, Ponderosa Steak Houses Restaurants and 27 sites for an upstate drug store chain. He is survived by his wife, Mary, four daughters, three sons and 14 grandchildren.