Obituary

The untimely death of Robert John Taft occurred on 13th August 2017 at the age of 68. Robert (Bob) was born in Wolverhampton on 11th August 1949, the son of Jack and Mary. His school days were spent with his family in Canterbury where he was heavily involved in the Boys’ Brigade. At an early age he joined Military Survey where, after his initial training as a cartographer, he became a photogrammetrist. In 1974, he decided to accept a position with Applied Photogrammetric Sciences in Canada where, after becoming established, he set up a new office in North Dakota. On his return to the United Kingdom in 1978, he worked for Geosurvey International Ltd before moving to the Survey and General Instrument Co. Ltd (SGI) as the representative for the Contraves mapping system. His personality suited a move into sales and he later represented SGI as the agency for Kern and Helava. With enormous changes in the commercial structure of the international photogrammetric industry, Taft found himself, almost by default, working for LH Systems and then Leica Geosystems. Initially he was responsible for a broad range of photogrammetric products but, after several years, his brief concentrated mainly on aerial camera systems with the territory he covered significantly increased. He was known to comment that his customers were so widespread that he seemed to spend nearly as much time in the air as he spent at home. In an industry where the technology was changing faster than ever before, he always needed to keep abreast of developments. As the stress began to show, an early retirement deal was negotiated and he spent his few remaining working years as a court usher, a job which he thoroughly enjoyed. Bob Taft joined the former Photogrammetric Society in 1982 and in 1990 he became Hon. Treasurer, a position he held until 1999 when he became Vice-President. Following the merger of the Photogrammetric Society with the Remote Sensing Society in 2001, he became Treasurer once more and served until 2011 when he received the Founders’ Medal for his enormous contribution to both societies. With good humour, Taft meticulously kept a tight hold on the purse strings and his wise counsel to Council was greatly valued. In his witty way, he made sure that there would be a significant benefit to the Society for every item of expenditure and argue for it to be a little reduced before he would agree. During the merger period, he ensured that there was a legal transfer of funds and the rules of the Charity Commission were assiduously obeyed. Taft's skilful ability to negotiate a sale was illustrated when he became responsible for selling the Photogrammetric Society ties. The ties were available in maroon or navy blue and a number of members who intended to buy one tie could not quite understand how they found themselves going home with one of each colour. The value of Taft's voluntary contribution to the photogrammetric and remote sensing industry through the two Societies cannot be overstated. In addition to his busy and sometimes stressful job, he kept a steady hand on the financial situation for two decades and never failed to present the accounts correctly, clearly and on time. His meticulous attention to detail extended into his dress and personal appearance. It was said that one could see to shave in the gloss of his shoes. Taft was an accomplished musician and the organ and piano were his escape and relaxation from the pressures of travel and work. As a child he learnt to play the organ and earned pocket money by playing in the village church. Later he was part of the Oberkengruppe Dancers at Military Survey which, in 1973, were featured on the BBC TV programme Generation Game. There he performed his polka and Schuhplattler dance whilst wearing an impressive set of lederhosen. Taft was extremely proud of the achievements of his daughter Jennifer, an accomplished flautist, and his son Dale who until recently served with the Royal Signals. In his last years, Bob Taft suffered a debilitating illness and he sank into a depression from which he never fully recovered. In Europe, the Middle East, North America and beyond, he was respected for his professionalism both as a businessman and as a practical photogrammetrist. His success was in no small way due to his sense of humour and the way in which he treated his clients and colleagues as his friends. He will be affectionately remembered by them and by members of RSPSoc for his courtesy and diligence. In the words of a former President of The Photogrammetric Society: “Bob really was one of the good guys.”

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