MARSHALL – Local philanthropist and business owner Robert Carr died Saturday at the age of 83. Carr owned and operated a successful local construction company and property management business, but he will probably be most well known for his generous giving to the community of Marshall.

Recent donations include $100,000 to the Avera Foundation for the new cancer institute, and $2 million toward the construction of the Marshall-Lyon County Library and an additional $1.65 million in materials and construction for the MLCL children’s wing.

“Robert was a person who made tremendous investments in this community,” said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes. “In businesses in the community, in the development of the community and also giving back to the community through donations, including most recently and significantly the children’s wing of the library and the matching grant that funded nearly half the construction of the library.”

Byrnes said that Carr’s help with numerous organizations, from Marshall schools to community healthcare, have helped the city grow and thrive.

Mary Maertens, regional president at Avera Marshall, said Carr will be remembered as a “very passionate family man, philanthropist and community developer.” Carr’s development of assisted living and aging service facilities like Hill Street Place and Boulder Estates was the first of its kind in Marshall, Maertens said.

“As a philanthropist, Bob and his family, for many years, has been a contributor to the Avera Marshall Foundation, and they assisted us most recently with a large donation to the Avera Cancer Institute,” Maertens said. “It was with their help that we were able to complete the project. He certainly left Marshall with a significant legacy.”

“He just made tremendous contributions to Marshall,” Byrnes said.

“The thing about Bob was that he remained active and continued to plan things for the future of Marshall and the future growth of his business up until a few weeks before his death, which is amazing,” Byrnes added. “The other thing about Bob is he had a lot of things going on, but he always still remained very approachable and very common … there was no airs about him. He was just Bob.”

Gwen Sturrock, president of the Marshall-Lyon County Library Board, was saddened by the news of Carr’s passing, especially with the construction of the new children’s wing nearing completion in the coming months.

“The library couldn’t be more grateful for his support,” Sturrock said. “We were hoping he’d be able to attend the grand opening of the new children’s wing … we are very grateful for his and (his wife) Phyllis’ support, and we very much wanted him to be here to enjoy it.”

Sturrock said that if construction and setup goes as planned, the library’s new children’s wing should have its grand opening in mid-to-late June.

Funeral services for Carr will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Marshall. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday in Carlin Hall at Holy Redeemer and 10-11 a.m. Wednesday.