More detail on this person: Robert Waldemar Tallgren started life November 16, 1935 at 5:05AM in New York City. He spent his early years in Queens and then in Merrick, Long Island. He attended public school and graduated from Wellington C Mepham High School in Bellmore, NY. His good grades and athletic skills provided him with numerous options for college - Penn State, Cornell & Colgate. He was even interviewed by Joe Paterno himself. Eventually, Capt. Robert St. Onge interviewed and brought him to West Point. It was the full-dress parade that caused Robert to abandon Cornell and attended USMA as part of the class of 1958. Robert will tell you that his time at USMA taught him compelling principles of 'duty, honor and country' along with honesty, integrity and wisdom. In 1965, Robert obtained a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Major Robert W. Tallgren resigned his commission on March 3, 1970 and received an Honorable Discharge. Throughout his 12 years of military service, he worked in the Air Defense Artillery and Transportation Corps. His duty stations included Panama Canal, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Alabama and two tours of duty in Vietnam. Robert flew both fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross Award and the Soldier's Medal in1967. After his years of service, Robert held Director and Vice President positions at 4 Fortune 500 Companies (Martin Marietta Corp, Tupperware, Kraft and HBJ) He also worked as a Transportation Coordinator for CONRAIL. Through his life, he held personal relationships with several "Captains of Industry" - Fred Small (FedEx,), Bob Evanson (McGraw Hill) Leo Mullins (Delta) and Gus English (Tupperware). One of Robert's favorite extracurricular activities was cars. His passion with automobiles began in 1978 with the purchase of a 1972 Alpha Romeo GTV. Then in 1981, he purchased his first Ferrari. The following year, he joined the Ferrari Club of America and founded the Philadelphia Ferrari Festival. Since then, he has chaired several national Concours events and has been part of the Palm Beach Cavallino since 1992. In 1999, he founded and co-chaired the Festival of Exotic Cars in Mt. Dora and was the Founder of the Winter Park Consours d'Elegance in 2002. Robert also found peace on the golf course. His favorite memory was playing the Tour Championship pro-am with Davis Love III. Robert is survived by his soulmate, Joyce Crabtree, daughter Karon Joyce Paisan (Carlos Paisan), step-daughter Kirsten Hoyt (Chuck Hoyt), step-daughter Stacey Springer (Randall Springer), 6 grandchildren (Gabriella, Stefan, Tessa, Kayla, Craig and Joanna) and 2 great-grandchildren (Josiah and Jude). He was predeceased by his son, Robert in 1974. Robert was once quoted as saying "As I accumulate seniority on planet Earth, I realize materialism is nothing but a man-made illusion and that the only real meaning life has is through spirituality. I am a spiritual being having an earthly experience. I give thanks to my Creator for all my blessings each and every day. May it be said when I have left, he lived his life with purpose, grew old gracefully and died with dignity. He did unto others as he would want done unto him." Those blessed to have known him would agree that Robert did live his life with purpose, grew old gracefully and died with dignity. This true gentleman will not soon be forgotten.
This information was last updated 02/18/2018
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Date posted on this site: 10/13/2025
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