Robert Terrall

SALISBURY — Robert Terrall passed away March 27, 2009,  at Noble Horizons.

Born  in 1914 in Neihart, Mont.,  he moved to The Dalles, Ore., and spent his teenage years in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Harvard University in 1936, and was editor of the Harvard Lampoon for three years.

He moved to New York, writing freelance fiction and movie reviews for magazines.

During World War II, he worked in the shipyards in Brooklyn until being drafted. He served with Patton’s 65th Infantry Division during the invasion of Europe, and with the Allied occupying army in Austria.

He returned from the war and  wrote his first novel, “The Steps of the Quarry,â€� about the liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp. This was the first of 53 works of fiction published during his lifetime.

In 1951, Robert moved to Cornwall, raising four children with the late Joan Terrall. He served on local and regional school boards for 17 years and was active in the local Democratic party.

Robert loved the outdoors and prided himself on being able to reduce a tree to firewood with his treasured axe, bow saw, wedge and sledge hammer.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Martha Porter. Together they were ardent supporters of the arts and theater in the Northwest Corner. He is  also survived by his children, Susan Terrall Simon of New York, Mary Terrall of Pasadena, Calif., Jim Terrall of Cornwall and Ben Terrall of San Francisco, Calif.; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held at the Cornwall Congregational Church in Cornwall Village on Saturday, April 18, at 3 p.m. A reception will follow in the parish house.