Robert “Bob” Malboeuf, a longtime area emergency medical technician and police officer and former Mason police chief, died at the end of April at the age of 73.
Malboeuf – often known as “Chief Bob” around town – had a longtime interest in emergency services, and spent decades serving as an EMT on the Souhegan Valley Ambulance Service, and as a part-time officer regionally.
Malboeuf was born in Whitinsville, Mass., and raised in Fitchburg. He had lived in Mason since 1990.
Funeral services were held on May 4 in Townsend, followed by burial in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Mason, on the same road where he lived for years with his wife of 30 years, Lisa Malboeuf. His daughter, Lori Archambault of New Ipswich, said that he often joked that he didn’t want to leave home, even in his passing.
Though he was no longer an active police officer, many officers were present at the funeral to pay their respects, said Heather Schoff of Greenville, a friend of the Malboeuf family.
“He was a really good guy, and a very civic-minded guy,” Schoff said. “He loved his communities, and that was very evident by the amount of people that came through to give their respects. He had a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives.”
Those who worked with Malboeuf said he brought the same friendly attitude he had in his personal life to the job, whether it was working as a first-responder with the ambulance or the police force.
“Bob was on his was out of the ambulance just as I was joining, if I recall correctly,” said former SVAS Director Darel Oja. “He was always a person that genuinely wanted to help others. He was a police officer for many years after he left the ambulance but always remained the same -- friendly, helpful and always smiling.”
New Ipswich Fire Chief Meredith Lund, who worked with Malboeuf on the Souhegan Valley Ambulance, as well as through mutual aid when he was a police officer, said he stood out for his dedication.
“He just had a real compassion for the people in the community,” Lund said. “He was very in tune with what the community needed.”
Lund said Malboeuf hadn’t ended the relationships he forged while on the force and serving on the ambulance. Even after his retirement, every time they saw each other, he would go out of his way to strike up a conversation – sometimes even pulling over if he saw her walking her dog while he was driving.
“You knew he was thinking about you,” Lund said. “He made every attempt to go out of his way to make sure to ask about you or your family. He had a real gentle spirit and he was just a special person. He’ll be sorely missed.”
Malboeuf made the decision to go to the police academy and become a full-time officer later in his 40s, according to his family members.
“He absolutely loved it,” said his wife Lisa. “He was working part-time as an officer for many years before that, and it was something he always wanted to do. He was very proud of the job.”
Lisa and Bob actually met through his work on the force, when he was a part-time officer and Lisa was a dispatcher. He worked part-time as an officer in Greenville, and full-time as an officer in New Ipswich, and from 1989 through 2000, served as chief of police in Mason. Following his retirement as chief, he continued to work for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
“He used to have a saying, ‘People become police officers because you want to help people, or you want power,’” Lisa said. “It sounds cliche, but for him, it was helping people. He was a people magnet. He never forgot a single person he met.”
Malboeuf was very involved with his children and six grandchildren, and was always in attendance at sports games and his granddaughter Olivia’s horse shows, despite an allergy to horses, and was a regular at the local fishing derby with his grandsons.
He enjoyed many hobbies, including cycling, marksmanship and fishing, and was a great lover of ice cream – so much so that his son Mark Malboeuf jokingly apologized to the ice cream industry during his father’s eulogy, for surely without his father’s patronage, the industry would go under.
He was also, Archambault said, the Mason animal control officer as part of his police duties, but his soft heart for animals made him “the worst animal control officer Mason has ever seen,” because he often couldn’t bring himself to bring stray animals to the pound.
Their home was often host to animals waiting to be claimed and at least two dogs – a black Lab mix named Charlie and a spaniel named Freckles – and two cats became permanent members of the family.
“He had a soft spot for animals,” Archambault said.
He also had a heart for his community, including in his work on the force.
“He was fair, and he believed in second chances,” Archambault said.
He would also go out of his way for the people he served. In one instance, Lisa recalled, after a car accident, he drove a man to Manchester to be with his wife in the hospital.
“That was far from a one-off thing,” she said. “He cared about people. People thought our home phone number was the police number. It was a 24/7/365 job. The phone rang off the hook, and he was always there.”
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the American Liver Foundation at liverfoundation.org/for-patients/donate-now.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertransccript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.