Robert Iden

May 29, 2023

Robert "Bob" Iden died on May 29, 2023, at home in Anchorage, Alaska, surrounded by family. He was 82.

Bob was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1940. During the war, he rode the train to Wales with his siblings, Bridget and Nick, and his mother Joy, to wait out the German air raids on a farm. His father remained behind as part of the Royal Air Force barrage balloon brigade. After the war, the family settled in southeast England, New Forest district. As a boy, he attended Brockhurst, a boy's boarding school, where he ran track and played soccer. He went on to obtain his bachelor's degree at University of London, Imperial College, Royal School of Mines. He came to the United States on a graduate scholarship to study petroleum engineering at Penn State. After graduating, he took a job in Anchorage with Shell Oil Company and was then hired by ARCO Alaska in 1970, at the beginning of the oil boom.

Bob worked in oil development and exploration in Cook Inlet and then took on the responsibility for the reservoir engineering aspects of the development and management of the Prudhoe Bay project. He became a vice president at ARCO in 1991. He retired in 1995, at age 54.

Bob met his future wife, Alicia Iden, shortly after he moved to Alaska at a Christmas party in 1966. Both had come with other people, but they connected on the dance floor. They didn't exchange numbers but he remembered that her father, Fred Selkregg, was running for office. He tracked her down with the help of a campaign matchbook. He proposed to her after taking her motorcycling near Hatcher Pass. They were married six months later at the Selkregg house in Nunaka Valley.

Alicia and Bob had two daughters, Tara and Tanya. They made their home in East Anchorage until retirement. Then he and Alicia moved downtown to 12th Avenue, a street where several other family members now also live. He and Alicia were adventurous travelers, spending time in Hawaii and making trips with close friends to New Zealand, the Middle East, South America, Africa, England, and Europe. Together they enjoyed 10 years of active and fun retired life before Alicia died of stomach cancer in 2005, after 38 years of marriage.

Bob met Gioia Ottolini in 2014, at the home of his sister-in-law Sheila Selkregg on 12th Avenue. Gioia was visiting from Italy. They were drawn to each other right away and married in 2016, living between Anchorage; Waikoloa, Hawaii; and Sardinia, Italy.

Bob was an avid fisherman, floating and fishing the Kanektok and Goodnews Rivers in Western Alaska, dip-netting salmon on the Copper River and fishing the Kenai for more than 40 seasons. He was an inherent naturalist who keenly observed plants, birds and wildlife, photographing and cataloging all the beauty he saw. He could often be found hiking, biking or birding. Two favorite local spots were Baxter Bog and the trails near Campbell Airstrip. He had a great appreciation for art and collected original work by Alaska artists. He loved crossword puzzles, card games, crime novels, a pristine lawn, a good English breakfast with family, soccer and American football, and a drink in the evening with a tidy bowl of peanuts.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Joy Iden; parents-in-law, Fred and Lidia Selkregg; wife, Alicia Iden; brother-in-law, Leif Selkregg; and nephew, Anthony O'Malley. He is survived by his daughters and their families, Tara Iden, Dean Spagnoli, Aiden and Siena Spagnoli of Kailua, Hawaii and Tanya Iden, John Driscoll, Luca and Lidia Driscoll of Anchorage; wife, Gioia Ottolini and her children Giordano and Daria Lippi; brother, Nick Iden and wife Chris; sister, Bridget Nolan and many nieces and nephews in England; sister-in-law, Sheila Selkregg and her children Julia and Joseph O'Malley and grandchildren Leo and Neri O'Malley-Boario.

Donations in his memory can be sent to The Selkregg Community Engagement and Service Learning Award, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage AK 99508. Checks may be made to UA Foundation, noting the Selkregg Award, or people may donate online at https://engage.alaska.edu/uaa/give-now.

A graveside service will be held on Sunday, June 4, 2023, at 1p.m., at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Iden family home.