The man who left his mark on Lawrence County through his work as an architect and a community activist has died.

Architect Robert Dalton, 73, died on Wednesday following a long illness.

“I will miss him,” Ralph Kline of the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization, said. “People probably don’t realize how much of importance he was in the community from his work with the Chamber of Commerce. He was the one who took the lead in the Chesapeake Bypass. I worked with him all along, ever since we tried to lobby for it in the 1980s. Nobody worked harder on that. He has his thumbprint on a lot of Lawrence County.”

Dalton, who was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati School of Architecture, had his architectural firm, Robert L. Dalton, in Chesapeake. He designed the Lawrence County Courthouse annex, the Lawrence County Municipal Courthouse in Chesapeake and the Sybene Senior Center, among other structures in Ohio and West Virginia.

From 1987 to 1989, he was president of the Greater Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.

“It seems I have known Bob all my life,” said Dr. Bill Dingus, executive director of the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation and the chamber of commerce. “There was no finer person that we have worked with. Honest. Honorable. Loved this community. Gave his time day and night freely, never asking anything in return. These are sad days when you lose a person like Bob.”

Also working with Dalton was Dan Mooney, LEDC board member.

“Bob certainly was a great guy,” Mooney said. “For many years Bob chaired the transportation committee of the chamber and was very instrumental working with the Ohio Department of Transportation. Bob worked tirelessly on getting the Chesapeake Bypass underway and helped bring it as far along as it has so far. He was a great architect and great community leader. His leadership will be missed.”

In 2011 the Lawrence County Commission named a bridge on part of the Proctorville Bypass for Dalton. Commission president at that time was County Auditor Jason Stephens, who was also a member with Dalton of the Rome Church of Christ.

“He was a man of God who cared about his family, church and community greatly,” Stephens said. “We will miss him. He certainly left a legacy in Lawrence County that will carry on for years.”

A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Rome Church of Christ in Proctorville.