Father Dresser 

March 1, 2015

Bob was a true lover of scholarship and valued the place of education in Christian discipleship. Born in 1931, he took degrees at Yale University and Yale Divinity School, then was ordained to the priesthood in 1956 by Bp. Charles. F. Hall in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. He served parishes in Massachusetts and Connecticut before beginning his longstanding ministry in our diocese, as Rector, Christ Church, Rye, 1977-78; Vicar, St. Mark’s, Chelsea, 1978-80; and Rector, Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs, 1980-95. In retirement, Bob offered ministry in Christ Church, Marlboro, and St. George’s, Newburgh.

Throughout these years, Bob furthered his own education, eventually earning a Ph.D. from Fordham University. For over ten years, he was a mentor in the Education for Ministry program, a four-year course of theological education for church leaders. In retirement, he taught as an adjunct professor at Mount St. Mary College, Newburgh. He had a multifaceted mind that drew upon the Scriptures, the Early Church Fathers, the spirituality of St. Francis, classical music and jazz, and contemporary film. A published scholar, his works included “Rhetoric and Substance in Bernard of Clairvaux”, “Sermons on the Song”, and “Studies in Medieval Cistercian History.” 

In 1980, Bob married the Rev. Deborah M. Dresser, also a priest of our diocese. In parish ministry, she has excelled in outreach and interfaith relations, and she has served as President of the Standing Committee. Currently, she is the interim priest at St. Paul’s, Chester. In 2008, Bp. Mark S. Sisk awarded her the Bishop’s Cross.

For several years prior to my consecration as bishop, Bob and I enjoyed something of a shared ministry in pastoral oversight of Saint Mark’s Church in Chelsea-on-Hudson. I had known Bob and Deborah through their significant ministries of priestly leadership in the Hudson Valley, but the time Bob and I spent in care of Saint Mark’s brought us a true friendship and an intimacy in our common ministry. I have seen first-hand the lives Bob has touched, and the personal transformations which God has worked through Bob’s ministry. Truly, these mature, well-formed Christians are Bob’s legacy.

Bob’s death comes unexpectedly, and we grieve with Deborah, his daughters Deborah Ann Greco and Sally Elizabeth O’Brien and stepdaughters Suzanna Carter Francis Wlodarski and Margaret Francis Stromswold, his brother John Allen Dresser, and an extended family that includes many grandchildren. Cards and expressions of condolence may be sent to Deborah and the family at her home: 12 Bay View Terrace, Newburgh, NY 12550. Donations in memory of Bob may be given to The American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, www.afedj.org. 

Please pray for God’s consoling presence with all who mourn, and please remember our brother Bob in your prayers and at your altars. With every good wish, I remain

Yours,