Robert Frost

Robert “Bob” Frost, 87, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026, with his wife Shirley, son Michael, daughter Elizabeth and beloved cats, Gino and Willow, by his side. 

Born in Portland, Maine, Bob grew up in South Portland on Evans Street, in the family home dating back to the 1800s. He was raised in an old-school South Portland environment, where strong values and deep-rooted traditions shaped his character. His father, Carl W. Frost, passed away when he was just 8 years old, leaving his mother, Marguerite E. Frost, to raise him and his younger sister, Nancy. Bob graduated from South Portland High School in 1957 and went on to earn a BS in Education from the University of Maine at Orono in 1961. During his senior year at South Portland High School, Bob met the love of his life, Shirley Anne Wolverton. Their relationship blossomed as he pursued his studies at the University of Maine at Orono, and they were married on Nov. 4, 1961. Directly after the wedding they moved to Lancaster, New Hampshire where Bob took a job as a high school history teacher. After a year of teaching in Lancaster, Bob and Shirley moved back to South Portland where Bob started working as an Assistant Manager at the W.T. Grant department store. Soon they welcomed their first child, Michael, in Portland in 1962. Two years later their daughter, Elizabeth came into their life. After two years with W.T. Grant, Bob joined the U.S. Air Force, where his first assignment was to Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado. Bob’s many assignments over the next 18 years took him all over the world and included March AFB in Riverside, California; Wright-Patterson in Dayton, Ohio; Offutt AFB in Nebraska, U-Tapao Airfield in Thailand for a year to provide logistical support for the effort in Vietnam; Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii; after Hawaii Bob attended the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia before being stationed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. After 4 years in Germany Bob returned to the Joint Forces Staff College, this time as an instructor, where he capped off his Air Force career as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1984. After leaving the Air Force, Bob joined SRA where he stayed for a year, after which he moved over to BBN to continue his logistics work with the military as a government contractor. After a couple of years with BBN, Bob found his calling with the MITRE Corporation where he opened MITRE’s Scott AFB site in 1988 and where he finished out an astounding and impactful career in 2007. 

In retirement, Bob and Shirley were able to enjoy traveling, including visiting their children in various locales. Bob also enjoyed having lunch with his friends, was Shirley’s test-taster for the new menus she created for her cooking classes, and also acted as a helper during those classes. Bob had a fair hand in the kitchen himself and very much enjoyed cooking and grilling. Bob also had a great love of cars, old and new, and owned over 300 cars during his lifetime, though not all at the same time. 

Bob was predeceased by his parents and his sister. 

He is survived by his devoted wife, Shirley Frost; his son, Michael Frost; his daughter, Elizabeth Frost; and cherished grandchild, Brendan Frost and his wife Tabitha Frost and their child, Bob’s great-grandchild, Regan Frost. 

Visitation will be held 9:30 - 11:00 a.m., Friday, April 10, 2026 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 625 St. Nicholas Dr., O'Fallon, Ill. 

Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11:00 a.m. at the church with Rev. Nick Junker, presiding. Mr. Frost will be interred at O'Fallon City Cemetery, where military honors will be rendered. 

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to BJC Hospice for their extraordinary care and support during Bob’s final days. To view Bob’s memorial page, please visit https://www.wfh-ofallon.com/obituaries/robert-frost. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to either Doctors Without Borders at https://give.doctorswithoutborders.org or the Missouri Human Society at https://hsmo.org/?form=HSMO-MAIN-DONATION