Robert C. Rasche, 61

Bellingham, Mass.

Artist and sailor Robert “Bob” Carl Rasche, 61, of Bellingham, Mass., and Wells, Maine, died in an apparent accident off of his 22’ O’Day sailboat Avalon in Wells Harbor on Saturday, Aug. 8. The boat was found unmanned and adrift from its up-river mooring at approximately 11 a.m. and a search and rescue ensued involving elements of the USCG, Maine Marine Patrol, Wells Police and Fire Departments, and the Wells Harbor Master. Bob’s body was found and recovered several hours later. An examination into the exact cause of death remains ongoing.

Bob was born on July 1, 1959, in Beverly, Mass. He grew up in North Reading, Mass., and at a family home in Wells, Maine. As a boy and teenager he fished, swam, snorkeled and sailed off the coast of Wells and in the Webhannet River every summer. Bob loved the sea and everything about it. Throughout his entire life Bob always maintained a close contact with Wells and southern Maine.

Bob’s talent as an artist was recognized at an early age. After attending the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston during high school, he graduated from Syracuse University in 1981 with a BA in Fine Arts and went on to develop a career as an acclaimed Maritime Artist. His finished works hang in important private collections throughout the country and have been displayed at leading galleries and shows in the Maritime Art community, including the Mystic Maritime Museum Gallery in Connecticut.

Included in his works are highly praised paintings of historic American sailing ships, including a rendition of the Alice S. Wentworth, the last coastal schooner to call Wells Harbor home in the early 1900s. The original of this painting, along with other important works by Bob, are now displayed in the collection of the Wells-Ogunquit Historical Society in Wells. A print of his painting of the USS Constitution is part of the permanent collection of the U.S. Navy Office of the USS Constitution in Charlestown, Mass.

In addition to his traditional ship paintings, Bob created many works inspired by the sea and tidal regions of coastal Maine. Prints of his works can be found in homes and establishments throughout coastal Maine and New England.

Bob also had a successful career as a graphic design artist. Working with his brother-in-law Kevin Barnard of Ocean Graphics in Wells, Bob’s often-whimsical designs became famous on T-shirts and signs for local businesses in coastal York County.

Bob is remembered as a gentle soul by all those who knew him. Around Wells Harbor he was known as a humble, “old school kind of guy” who always preferred to do the work on his boat himself with his own hands. With his family and friends he was always a giving person, there to provide protection and help when needed. He had a special connection with nature and animals all his life.

Bob is survived by his wife Jan and family of Bellingham, Mass., his daughter Rebecca Podsiadlo and her family of Arundel, Maine, his brother Stephen Rasche of York, Maine, his two sisters Robin Barnard and Kathryn Andrews both of Wells, Maine, and numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws. Bob was pre-deceased by his parents Margaret E. and Robert W. Rasche, both of Wells.