Robert W. Studer

1914 - 2012

Soldier, scholar, artist, "laughing philosopher," Robert W. Studer, devoted husband of Rosario ("Chari") Duarte Studer for almost 67 years, and beloved father of four, bade his final farewell on August 24, 2012, in Thousand Oaks, two weeks short of his 98th birthday.

Bob was born on September 6, 1914, to Amandus and Hazel (Finn) Studer in Wesley, Iowa and was raised in Lakeville, Minn., the second of 14 children. He enlisted in the Army at Fort Snelling, Minn., in 1933 and received an Army appointment to West Point, graduating from the Military Academy in June 1939.

In April 1941, 1st Lieutenant Studer was ordered to the Philippines as a signal officer in the newly formed Philippine ("Caribou") Division under MacArthur's Far East Command. There this Minnesota farm boy met and fell for his Spanish beauty, and on his second try, she agreed to marry. The wedding was planned for Christmas Day 1941, but plans went awry on December 8. With the Japanese invasion, Bob deployed with the division to the Bataan Peninsula where during the next four months, without reinforcements or resupply, American soldiers and Philippine Scouts fought a war of attrition that culminated in surrender to the Japanese on April 9, 1942.

At Bataan, Bob was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action, an honor he always attributed to the bravery of his Philippine Scouts. Fellow POWs would later attribute boosts in morale to Bob's cartooning and drawings of playing, birthday, and holiday cards. Bob was ultimately sent to prison camps in Japan, but shortly after his capture he was brought to Manila in a prisoner work party, when, by chance, he and Chari saw each other from across a city street. After secret nods exchanged, they would not know the fate of one other for another three and a half years.

In late September 1945, freedom brought Bob back to Manila to find and marry Chari. Together they sailed to the United States, she for the first time, to begin a family and continue his military career which took him to assignments in six states, the District of Columbia, and to Spain, France, and Colombia.

Bob retired to California as a colonel in 1968, after more than 30 years of service, with master's degrees in electrical engineering and international relations. Three years later, he attained his doctorate in political science from USC, having written his dissertation on the Colombian military, a topic born in his assignment as the military attach to Colombia from 1963 to 1966.

In retirement, Bob stayed active in volunteer service to Thousand Oaks and to the retired-military community. A polymath, his interests ran from carpentry, photography, and horticulture to daily reading that could take him anywhere from Karl to Groucho Marx. He produced superbly written articles of history and political affairs, played crack golf, bridge, and cribbage, painted award-winning watercolors, loved his scripture, and delighted all with his harmonica and his contagious humor.

He is a loving inspiration to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, whose lives are indelibly marked by the treasure of this man, who in all things sought wisdom. "Well done; be thou at peace." Bob is survived by Chari, their children, Gene (Nancy), Rita Dudley (Doug), Mark (Nancy), and Maria (John), by his nine adult grandchildren, Jennifer, Matthew, Sean, Marah, Daniel, Heather, Linda, Mary Ann, and Lydia, by his eight great-grandchildren, and by his brothers, Bill, Tom, and Denny Studer, and his sisters, Mary Ann Studer and Dot Lorentson.

His family wishes to thank Bob's caregivers Suzanna, Karen, Noemi, Evie, and Sara who helped take such loving care of him in his later years.

Funeral Mass will be held at St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church, at 12:30 p.m., on 31 August, 2012.

Internment, after services, will be at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, Calif.