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July 10, 2017Robert B. Wilhelm
90th Birthday
Robert B. Wilhelm, former Managing Director of the St. Francis Hotel, turns 90 on Wednesday July 12. Bob has many friends in the Westin family, and many will want to send him messages of congratulations in celebrating such a milestone.
Bob was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and served in the Marines in the Korean War. After spending the summer of 1949 working at Paradise Inn, on Mt Rainier, Bob realized he liked the hotel business. That summer Bob also met a beautiful young waitress at Paradise Inn named Irene, whom he married in 1950.
Bob arranged for an interview with Edward Carlson, Executive VP of Westin Hotels and started as Front Office Cashier at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Seattle. Bob progressed in hotel management through 40 years with Westin including work at the Marcus Whitman, in Walla Walla, Benson in Portland, Mayfair in Los Angeles, Caravan Inn in Lancaster, Finlen in Butte, Cosmopolitan in Denver, and the Mayflower in Washington DC. Bob arrived at the St. Francis Hotel in 1975, where on his first day on the job he stood beside President Ford during the assignation attempt.
Known as a mentor to many up and coming managers, Bob and his staff innovated in many ways including creating OZ a disco on top of the St Francis tower and the beautiful grand bar Compass Rose.
At these hotels Bob hosted many famous guests including Presidents Truman and Eisenhower through George H.W. Bush, the Emperor from Japan, Queen Elizabeth, and the Heads of State of France, Italy, Spain and more. He also had the pleasure of hosting Shirley Temple, Danny Thomas, and local celebrities like Cyril Magnin and Herb Caen.
In San Francisco, Bob co-chaired the Save the Cable Cars committee and served on the Board of the Convention and Visitors Bureau and as President of Rotary.
Bob and Irene just celebrated their 67 th anniversary and now live in San Rafael. Their daughters include Karen Wilhelm Buckley in California and Gayle Wilhelm and Diane Wilhelm Medler in Montana and three grandchildren. To this day Bob continues to enjoy Rotary and to love San Francisco.
Bob Wilhelm can be reached at:
326 Mission Ave #208
San Rafael CA 94901
Email: Rbwilhelm208@icloud.com