Robert Charles Vander Meer

Robert Charles Vander Meer, 94, went home to the Lord on Thursday, May 30, 2024. His wife Sharon, son Rob and stepson Charles ask you to join them in celebrating the life of an amazing man who loved his family completely and dearly, and enjoyed immensely his work as an optometrist.
In his 61-year career, he saw countless patients and gained the respect of his peers through his work as a Member of the New Mexico Optometric Association and as a member of the New Mexico Board of Optometry.
Bob loved to laugh and loved music. He never tired of watching Lawrence Welk reruns on PBS.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Katherine Doeksen Vander Meer, and his brothers Willis and Roy, and his niece Jan Sweetman. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Sharon, his son Rob (Heather) of Albuquerque and stepson Charles Bittinger (Cindy) of Albuquerque, granddaughter Amber Bittinger of Albuquerque and grandson Charles Bittinger of Chicago.
Bob was born Jan. 16, 1930, to Charles and Kate Vander Meer in Hull, Iowa. It was indeed a cold and stormy night. The family was snowed in, and the doc couldn't make it out to the farm. Dad Charles did the midwifery and little Bobby came into the world, a bit of a surprise to his parents whose two older sons were close to leaving home. Once he was old enough, Bob went to work on the farm helping his dad in whatever ways he could. A natural storyteller, Bob relates many tales of farm life. His happiest day came when the horses were replaced with a tractor.
His faith and work ethic were defining traits. Dutch was his first language and until he started school, he didn't know there was any other option. The teacher made sure he got a clear message that there was.
While it was not an easy life, farming taught many lessons, among them the importance of work. His fondest memories were of going to school. He liked to say it was because he wanted to learn. It was really because he wanted to get away from the hard work on the farm.
His father didn't believe things like playing sports should interfere with getting the corn planted, the cows milked or any other farm work. His folks knew education was important, but so was getting the farm work done. And yet, though his dad was uneducated, and his mother just made it through eighth grade, they knew going to school was something he had to do.
Mother Kate also wanted Bobby to be well-rounded and insisted he take piano lessons from the time he was quite small. He was skilled and learned well, often providing Sunday entertainment for his parents. It has been some years since he played, but the sheet music from his childhood is still in the old piano bench.
His parents also saw the value of going to college. Bob jokes that the day he left the farm to go to college, his dad sold the farm.
He credits his Dutch heritage, farm upbringing in Hull, Iowa, and his parents for his work ethic and desire to be gainfully occupied for as long as possible.
Despite being a very smart man, his first two years of college at the University of South Dakota weren't good. He says he had no direction and the excitement of being away from home influenced his concentration on fun rather than getting good grades. The Dean of Men at USD delivered a reality check when Bob went in to ask if it would be okay to leave early at the end of his second year in college because he had a summer job at the post office. The Dean suggested that he might want to apply for a full-time job with the P.O. as he sure was no student.
That visit – added to not having a specific direction when he entered college - got his attention. By the time he graduated from USD he had found his path, with the help of an optometrist from his hometown who was on the Board of Trustees at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. He could have gone home and practiced there after graduation from ICO, but he had been deferred for seven years of military service to attend school, which he had to pay back. The pay back landed him at Beaumont Hospital in El Paso and later at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo where he worked with HAM, the chimp who went into space.
He had regular time off base when he was in Alamogordo, and opened his first private optometry practice, which he operated until he left the military.
New Mexico Highlands University brought him to Las Vegas in the '60s. Highlands had three PhD programs going, one of them in physiological psychology. He bought an optometry practice and started taking classes part time toward his degree. Then a series of events occurred, and all the PhD programs were closed out. By then he was established in practice and decided to stay in Las Vegas. He was in practice for 61 years, finishing his career at Eye Associates of New Mexico, where he worked until December of 2015.
He is a former president of the Rotary Club of Las Vegas and was an active member for more than 55 years.
Included among his professional activities during his optometric career:
As a member of First United Presbyterian Church, Las Vegas, he served as an elder, a trustee and on the financial support committee, and taught adult Christian Education classes.
He very much enjoyed reading and before health issues prevented getting out and about, he loved having Starbucks coffee with the "boys" at Charlie's Spic and Span, and travelling with Sharon, especially to Pismo Beach, Calif.
Doc, as they called him, was grateful for the kindness and compassion of his caregivers Lorenzo Martinez and Liz Garcia. Their patience and generosity of spirit made getting through his tough times more manageable. And thanks to Rose Gallegos and Yvonne Saiz who helped in the early days.
Services will be Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church, 1000 Douglas Ave., Las Vegas, NM. A luncheon will follow. Memorial gifts may be made to the Presbyterian Church or to a charity of your choice. Burial will be the following day, Wednesday, June 13, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. at Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, NM.
Arrangements are entrusted to and under the care of Rogers Mortuary, 600 Reynolds Ave, Las Vegas, NM 87701, 505-425-3511 or 1-800-479-3511.
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