BANGOR and ORONO, Maine — Colonel Robert Joseph ‘Granny’ Grandchamp, 86, husband of Marion Maxine (Smith) Grandchamp, died on December 14, 2017.
Bob was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 18, 1931, the son of Joseph Aloisius and Olive Angell (Burnside) Grandchamp, now deceased, former residents of North Scituate, Rhode Island.
He graduated from Aldrich High School in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1949. In the fall of 1951, after his sophomore year at Providence College, Bob entered military service as an aviation cadet, learning to fly at Spence Air Base (AB), a flying school, located in Moultrie, Georgia. After graduation, he was assigned to basic flight training in T-28’s and T-33’s at Laredo Air Force Base (AFB), in Texas. After having been commissioned in 1953, Bob attended and graduated from instrument flight school at Moody AFB, Valdosta, Georgia. From there, it was an assignment to the Air Defense Command at McChord AFB, Tacoma, Washington, flying F-94A’s and T-33’s. Five months later, Bob was shipped overseas to Thule AB, Thule, Greenland, to fly F-94B’s and T-33’s with a fighter interceptor squadron in the Air Defense Command. Next assigned to Presque Isle AFB in Maine, Bob flew f-89D’s and T-33’s in the same outfit with which he flew in Greenland. In the summer of 1956, Bob elected to finish his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Rhode Island. While studying at URI, Bob flew F-80’s out of Bedford, Massachusetts, with the Air Force Reserve.
Bob met his wife, Marion Maxine Smith, a registered nurse, and daughter of Harold William and Geneva (MacDougall) Smith, of Mars Hill, Maine, while stationed at Presque Isle AFB. They married while Bob was in his senior year at the University of Rhode Island. In 1958, the young couple moved to Bangor, Maine, where Bob worked for the City of Bangor, in Planning and Urban Renewal, as well as flying F-89’s with the Maine Air National Guard. During the next five years, Bob and Marion had three sons.
In 1963, Bob returned to active duty with the Air Force as a gunnery instructor training NATO pilots in the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada, flying T-33’s and F-86F’s. In the fall of 1965, he was assigned to Udorn AB, Udorn, Thailand, after the start of the Vietnam War, where he directed fighter, reconnaissance, tanker, and rescue missions from The Air Force’s Central Command Post as an operations officer. Bob flew combat missions in A-1E Skyraiders on his days off.
Upon return to the States, Bob was again assigned to the Air Defense Command and flew F-101B’s at Dow AFB in Bangor, Maine, with the 75th Fighter Interceptor Squadron until the squadron’s de-activation. At that time, he was re-assigned to RAF Upper Heyford, a Royal Air Force station in England, to fly RF-101’s. Within a short time, Bob was re-assigned to Germany, and flew T-33 target missions out of Ramstein AFB, in Kaiserslauten. Upon return to the States, he was assigned as an instructor in T-33’s at Perrin AFB, Sherman, Texas.
It was in this small town of Sherman that Bob learned the quick print business. He returned to Bangor, Maine, in 1971, in order to start Jiffy Print, the first speed printing business in Maine.
After leaving active duty, Bob flew T-33’s with the Maine Air National Guard while growing his Jiffy Print business until retirement from Reserve Military Service in 1976. He continued to own and operate Jiffy Print until 1991, at which time he retired and turned the family business over to his three sons.
After retirement, Bob was a counselor with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). He served as Chairman of the Bangor, Maine Chapter for one year.
In 1956 Bob was awarded an Air Force Commendation Medal for returning to Dow AFB in a crippled F-89, which had had an engine explode in mid-air while flying over the north Maine woods. An oak leaf cluster was added to this medal as the result of having set up a formation instruction program for Saudi Arabian pilots at Perrin AFB in 1971. He was also awarded the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Defense Force Reserve Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon, and Good Conduct Medal. Besides being a Command Pilot in the Air Force, Bob also possessed a civilian Air Transport Pilot (ATP) rating.
Flying jets was his great passion. He used to say that there was nothing like the thrill and adventure of flying America’s front line fighters with the world’s greatest pilots. Hunting, fishing, powerboats, painting, writing and travel were the hobbies that he enjoyed most.
Bob is survived by three sons, Garth Grandchamp and his wife, Anne, of Cumberland, Maine, and their four children, Jacob, Caroline, Nathaniel and Jane; Brett Grandchamp of Orono; Mark Grandchamp and his wife, Dianne, of Veazie, Maine, and their three, daughters, Gabrielle, Marissa, and Olivia. He is also survived by one sister, Gloria Rubendunst of North Scituate, Rhode Island. Bob was predeceased by Marion Grandchamp, the love of his life, and wife of 59 years.
Those who wish to remember Bob in a special way may make gifts in his memory to: Ronald McDonald House Of Bangor Inc., 654 State Street, Bangor, Maine 04401.
Visiting hours will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, December 21st, 2017, at Brookings Smith, 133 Center Street, Bangor, Maine.
A graveside service with Military Honors will be held in the spring. Date and time to be announced.
Condolences may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.
