This memorial website was created in the memory of Robert Abbe, 83, born on March 26th, 1937 and died on February 23rd, 2021. Please share your memories, stories or photos. Email me if you are having trouble uploading: ruth.abbe@gmail.com. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, March 20th at 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT via Zoom. Please email me for the log in info.
A great shipmate whom I recall with great fondness. We shared some good times and some tough times.
He was such a wonderful person that exuded a reassuring presence. I remember his warm and affirming smile at Trinity Lutheran Church coffee hour; it accentuated his rosy, rounded cheeks and his round glasses.
I had the honor of training under him. He was an excellent physician, a skilled surgeon and a kind man. He personified the Naval medical officer and he helped many of us become better doctors and people. Bob left the world a better place than he found it.
I also had the honor of receiving surgical training under Dr. Abbe at Naval Hospital Oakland, CA. It has been a huge honor to have his very distinctive signature on my residency certificate. He instilled in me a lifelong love for being a Naval Officer. Fair seas and following winds CAPT Abbe!
As our medical consultant at the office, Dr. A's friendly and proactive demeanor didn't just make great company but was contagiously emulative. I'm glad to have worked with him and to know, as he fondly recounted to me personally, of his visit aboard the USNS Mercy to the city of my birth, Zamboanga, located in the formerly American island paradise of Mindanao, Philippines.
I was fortunate to work with Robert Abbe during his 15 year career as a medical consultant with the California Department of Health Care Services. Not only was he an outstanding medical consultant, he gave me great advice about many topics due to his wisdom and life experiences. He did this without any trace of an ego, too, which made him so well liked by everyone. I am saddened by his passing but know that he is in a better place.
I met Robert at the Oak Knoll Swimming pool in 1980 to 1985 - he swam every day at lunchtime or after work, I ran the pool and loved talking to him about the History of Medicine, History of Military (Naval) Medicine, History of Medicare & Medicaid, History of Lutheranism and the History Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. I'm saddened by his passing but know that he is in a better place.
Dear folks who knew Bob, After 45" of trying to Zoom in, the best I can do is leave you a note on line! Sorry!
Bob was not merely a room mate. He and his folks were my family -- the one I, with elderly parents and no siblings, wanted.