Robert (Bob) Coe died in Bethesda, Md. on Feb. 5 after a short illness.

He was born to David and Emma Coe on Dec. 26, 1935 in Marlborough. He attended the Fay and St. Mark’s schools. Through summer camp he became an ardent hiker and tennis player.

Bob earned a bachelor of arts degree in European history at Princeton University in 1957 and a master’s degree in teaching from Wesleyan University. He began teaching high school social studies but didn’t take to it.

He then earned a master’s degree in history from Columbia University and worked briefly as a social worker before settling into a 26-year career in the foreign service as an economist. He was posted to Bolivia and then Ghana, where he met Jane Meleney, who was working for the Peace Corps. They were married in October 1967 at Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Md., outside Washington, D.C.

In 1970 Bob was posted to Santiago, Chile, where both of his and Jane’s daughters were born. He earned a third master’s degree in public administration and economics from Harvard. The family then moved to New Delhi, India. His last overseas post was once again in Accra, Ghana, after which the family moved to Bethesda. Bob worked at the State and Commerce Departments.

After retirement, he volunteered for a wide variety of charitable pursuits: Bethesda Help, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Nature Conservancy, literacy tutoring, income tax preparation for low-income families, conflict resolution and the Bethesda public library. He also became a member of River Road Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda and enjoyed its many opportunities for intellectual reflection.

Starting in 2004, Bob taught 49 courses for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University, primarily on American and European history but also philosophy, economics and science. Some friends felt he had returned to his true calling as a teacher.

He was first introduced to the Island in 1967 and spent weeks of the summer at Jane’s family summer home on East Chop almost every year since. His dedication to maintaining an old Meleney family house included a lot of scraping, painting and tree trimming. He delighted in walking to the lighthouse to see the sunset and checking the weather at the bluff. He loved the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank properties and Cedar Tree Neck.

His family says goodbye to a kind and gentle man with a strong moral compass, whose scholarly focus was balanced by his good humor and desire to win any game he played. His loyalty and trustworthiness earned him deep and lifelong friendships.

He is survived by his wife Jane; daughters Cati and her wife Cheryl Shipman and Cindy and her husband Matt Altman; grandchildren Lucy and Sam Altman-Coe, brother Peter Coe and his wife Bev; nephews David Coe and his partner Wayne Petro and Justin Coe and his wife Lindsey Lund; and his niece Kirsten Kryder Coe and her partner Molly Costanza-Robinson.

He was predeceased by his parents, brother John Coe and sister in law Julee Kryder-Coe.

Celebrations of life will be held Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. at River Road Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, Md. and in the summer in Vineyard Haven.