Robert Lynn Kirchmeier, son of Ellen (Dettmann)\nand A.H. Kirchmeier, passed away peacefully on June 15, 2019 in Clermont, FL\nwhere he resided with his wife Nancy (Bannon). Bob was born in Portland, OR on\nApril 25, 1942. He moved to Missoula, Montana at a young age and grew up loving\nthe mountains and wilderness. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time at\ntheir family cabin at Lake Mary Ronan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While looking through some of Bob’s things, his\nfamily uncovered a brief autobiography he penned for the Missoula County High\nSchool class of 1960 50th Class Reunion book. Below you will find Bob\u2019s story\nin his own words, intermingled with memories from his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShortly after graduation, I enlisted and\nspent four years in the Air Force in various parts of the world including\nTexas, New Haven, Connecticut, Texas again, Okinawa, Japan, Hawaii, and\nSpokane. In 1964 I returned to Missoula to attend the University of Montana. I\nreceived a B.S. degree in Chemistry there (1968) and went to work for what used\nto be known as the Atomic Energy Commission at the National Reactor Testing\nStation in Idaho Falls, ID. In December of 1969, my sister introduced me to\nNancy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob\u2019s sister Mary brought her friend Nancy home for Christmas. He greeted them at the Idaho Falls airport and drove them home to Missoula for the holidays. Bob told the story that Nancy never left him alone\u2014she chased after him (and he didn\u2019t complain!). Three months later Bob popped the question. Nancy said yes, and in three more months they were married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We were married in Morocco, Indiana\n(Nancy\u2019s home town) in June of 1970. The following year, we moved to Moscow, ID\nand the University of Idaho, where I earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1975. From\n1975 through 2005, Nancy and I followed employment opportunities for me from:\nPfizer Quality Control Research in Groton, CT 1975 \u2013 1979; Parke-Davis\nProduction Research in Holland, MI 1979 1981; Founder, CEO, Chief Scientist,\nHead Bottle Washer and Janitor for West Analytical Laboratory in Holland, MI,\nand Bozeman, MT 1981 \u2013 1987; and finally back to the University of Idaho in Moscow,\nID, as an Associate, then Assistant, and then Full Professor of Chemistry 1987\n-2005.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob’s mother Ellen died in 2001. With the inheritance,\nBob and Nancy decided to buy the best most run-down cabin near Plummer, ID\n(much to their children\u2019s chagrin). <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Since my retirement from the University\nof Idaho in 2005, Nancy and I spend our summers in a small cabin on the\nsouthern end of Lake Coeur d\u2019Alene in Heyburn State Park, and winters at our\nhome in Kissimmee, FL. We enjoy driving across the country twice a year,\nexploring different routes when we can, and seeing friends and relatives along\nthe way.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob never boasted about the time and talent he\nput into restoring the cabin. He restored the cabin like so many projects he\ncompleted, one step at a time. He installed new windows, lifted the structure\nso it wouldn’t slide off the hill, installed new plumbing including a washer\nand dryer, built a workshop from the ground up, rebuilt and extended the deck,\nand many other small unnoticed tasks making the cabin home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout his life Bob always cherished the\ntime he spent with his friends and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Nancy and I have now been married for 40\nyears, and are the proud parents of three wonderful children (two boys and a\ngirl, although they are no longer young enough to be called boys and a girl),\nin-laws to terrific spouses and one significant other, and even prouder\ngrandparents of a two-year old girl and a less-than-one-year old boy.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today Bob leaves behind 5 grandchildren whom\nhe charmed with his Donald Duck impressions, bet with on Super Bowl Games, and\nFaceTimed with as often as possible. He instilled in them a love of Cloverdale\nSummer Sausage, lazy mornings watching cartoons and afternoons watching old\nmovies, and hunting for morels. He trained them to scratch his back often and\nfill his cup (both literally and figuratively). <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our forty-years together…have gone by\nway too quickly. For the most part, these years have been great, although there\nwas at least one year that was more like\u2026 What the hell was that? \u2026! I am very\nfortunate to have experienced many great times (as well as some not-so-good\nones) over [my life].\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob accomplished so many things in his life\nthat it\u2019s impossible to address them all. He left behind a loving\nfamily\u2014children who had become friends, friends and students who had become\nfamily, and the love of his life (who he was married to for 48.9863 years).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob is survived by his wife Nancy (Bannon);\nson and daughter-in-law Benjamin and Barbara (Cooper) and their kids June and\nJacob; son Samuel; daughter and son-in-law Katherine and Jacques Bouchard and\ntheir kids Evangeline, Willhelmina, and Heloise; sister and brother-in-law Mary\n(Kirchmeier) and Craig Burton; nephew and wife Mike and Zanne (Klinger) Burton;\nand nephew and wife Dan Burton and Erin (Kiel) Burton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob has donated his remains to the University\nof Central Florida College of Medicine for medical education. A memorial\nservice will be held for him later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In lieu of flowers the Kirchmeier family suggests making a memorial donation to the Malcom and Carol Renfrew Chemistry Scholarship Endowment at the University of Idaho. More information on how to donate is available at https:\/\/www.uidaho.edu\/giving\/make-a-gift\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Robert Lynn Kirchmeier, son of Ellen (Dettmann) and A.H. Kirchmeier, passed away peacefully on June 15, 2019 in Clermont, FL where he resided with his wife Nancy (Bannon). Bob was born in Portland, OR on April 25, 1942. He moved to Missoula, Montana at a young age and grew up loving the mountains and wilderness. … Continue reading “Obituary”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bibbert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}