Robert Stratton Fayer

Our dear son passed away on April 18, 2021. He was born in Prince Georges county Maryland on March 31, 1969 to Ronald and Mardell Fayer. Robert spent his childhood in West Laurel and in Clarksville, Maryland where he loved exploring the woods and streams near his home, an interest that continued into adulthood. He especially liked herpetology focused on turtles. But Robert also had a passion for music; he played bass guitar in several bands through high school and later while living in California. During part of his junior and senior years at Atholton High School Robert was treated at the NIH Pediatric Oncology Unit for a rare form of cancer and struggled valiantly his entire adult life with the aftereffects. After graduating from Atholton in 1988 he majored in music at the University of Southern California. He received certification as an audio recording engineer at UCLA in 1992 and worked for Virgin Records, Viridis Multimedia, and Grandmaster Studios in Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica , eventually moving to Amnesia music studio in Santa Cruz. After 4 years in Santa Cruz he returned to Maryland, enrolled at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and while working there from 2001 to 2011 in positions related to computerization of university facilities. He received a B.S. in computer science from the University of Baltimore in 2009 and completed his MS coursework at UMBC in 2011. Robert left UMBC to work for several beltway contractors installing computer systems primarily at federal military and security locations in the Maryland, Virginia, Washington area but occasionally as far away as Alabama. In 2017 he was offered a position at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC and bought a beautifully landscaped house where he took special interest in the large variety of plants and suburban wildlife. Robert remained at The Fed as a Senior Communication Analyst until poor health forced him to retire in 2021. He is survived by his mother Mardell Fayer of Salt Lake City; his father and stepmother Ronald and Nancy Fayer of Catonsville; stepbrothers Ashley and Bradford Subat; his aunt Charla Naish; uncle Dallas Clark Foster; uncle and aunt Stanley and Ellen Fayer. Robert was predeceased by his sister Anne Michelle Fayer. We thank Gilchrist Hospice and St. Agnes Hospital staff for their professional and compassionate care. A private family memorial service will be held at the MacNabb Funeral Home in Catonsville, Maryland. Memorial donations may be made to The Nature Conservancy.