By Ginger Kozlowski
Staff Writer

Robie's Country Store stands today as a monument to a family's tenacity, having been run 115 years by five generations of Robies. Its living memory, however, is now diminished by one, with the death of Lloyd Robie.

Lloyd Robie stands behind the counter at Robie's Country Store in 1997, just before the store closed. The store's walls were and continue to be covered with the memorabilia gathered during more than a century in operation. The store reopened on May 24, 2003, under the direction of the Robie's Country Store Preservation Corporation. (File Photo)

Lloyd Brown Robie, 87, died on New Year's Day. He had been suffering the effects of Alheizmer's disease and was being taken care of at the Merrimack County Nursing Home in Boscawen, said his widow, Dorothy "Dot" Robie.

"They were very good to him," she said. "Wonderful place, good care, clean, food was good."

Dorothy Robie noted her husband's age. "We're both 87. We'd both be 88 this year. This year would have been our 65th wedding anniversary."

Dorothy and Lloyd Robie ran the store for a little over 35 years, but that's not how Lloyd started out his career.

"After high school, his first job was with the Rumford Press in Concord as a pressman," she said. "They went out of business, then worked on the railroad, then in the military on the railroads."

Lloyd Robie spent about three years in the Army's 712th Railway Battalion.

"When he came back, everybody was working on the railroad," said Dorothy Robie. "Dad was thinking of retiring, so we thought, well, let's take over the store. He grew up in the village and knew all the people."

Lloyd's 15 minutes of fame came in the mid 1970s, when Jimmy Carter, campaigning for his first term as president, stopped in the store during a whistle stop.

"He was in the post office," said Dorothy. "I was making coffee. He came in the door and he said 'How do you do, I'm Jimmy Carter. Is Mr. Robie here?' (Lloyd) had two hearing aids but did not hear. I said, 'Lloyd, there's someone here to see you.' Jimmy shook hands, said 'I'm Jimmy Carter' I'm running for president.."

Lloyd Robie, however, had hearing aids and missed Carter saying his last name.

"He said 'Jimmy who?' - heard Jimmy, but not the Carter. That was great! So actually, he really did start that," said Dorothy, of an innocent question that dogged Carter for years.

Robie's Country Store was the center of Hooksett Village for decades, and Lloyd Robie ran the post office from the building. He was also involved in the Hooksett Grange, Masonic Lodge in Suncook, the Hooksett Historical Society, the Hooksett Congreational Church, the Hooksett-ites senior group and the Hooksett-ites Entertainers. He was Cub Scout Master for Troop 292, and a member of the VFW, the American Legion, the Men's Club and Odd Fellows. Robie was also a volunteer firefighter, director of the Hooksett Bank and assistant postmaster.

"He always did everything he could to help people in any way," said Dorothy.

He was also named Hooksett's Citizen of the Year in 1978. Everett Hardy's notes from that ceremony describe Lloyd Robie's early life.

"Lloyd has always been active in sports and was captain of the track team at Concord High. In the mid '30s, when hardly anyone knew what skiing was, Lloyd was busy showing us how it was done and eventually a sport club called the Campbell Mountain Outing Club was organized to help promote skiing and other activities in Hooksett. Lloyd is a licensed pilot and can fly both land-based planes and seaplanes."

Lloyd met Dot at the community Grange whist parties and dances, marrying her at the Hooksett Congregational Church on July 5, 1941.

"Lloyd worked for the B&M Railroad as a conductor after graduating from Concord High in 1936 and continued until he joined the Army in 1943," said Hardy's notes. He "helped to run the railroads in England, France and Germany for the Army."

The Robies had three children. At his death, Lloyd and Dorothy Robie had seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The oldest is the Rev. Geroge Robie, who lives in Nebraska. Wayne Robie, the fifth generation to work in the store, is now in Concord working as a bailiff. Their daughter, Janyce Demers, still lives in Hooksett.

"Wayne Robie and I were best friends in grammar school so I spent a lot of time at their house," said Kathie Northrup. " For many years I only saw Dot and Lloyd occasionally until I had the chance to get reacquainted when I began working with the preservation group. I was so sorry when he started to fail. It's sad when a storyteller can tell stories no more.

"Lloyd was an uncommon man, an original, that's for sure," said Northrup. "Both he and Dot gave so much to this community and to its children. And for Lloyd's family in particular, this commitment to public service was passed down from generation to generation. What a wonderful family legacy."

"They're kind of like the king and queen" of Hooksett, said fellow Hooksett-ite Walter Chase of the Robies.

"He was a nice man, very friendly," said Gertrude Connor, who knew Lloyd since she was a teenager. "He knew everybody, of course."

Funeral services are set for Saturday, Jan. 14, at Hooksett Congregational Church. Visiting starts at 10 a'm., followed by a Masonic service, then a church service after 11 a'm.

Dorothy Robie said memorial contributions may be made to the Hooksett Congregational Church, the Alzheimer's unit at the Merrimack County Nursing Home, the Robie's Country Store Preservation Society or a charity of one's choice.