Dr. Robert Machemer

No evil can happen to a good, man, either in life or after death "Socrates".
Dr. Robert Machemer, Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Duke University Eye Center died of cancer at the Duke Hospice Hock Family Pavilion, December 23, 2009, surrounded by his loving family.
He was born in Muenster, Germany, in 1933, the oldest of three children to Erna and Dr. med. et phil. Helmut Machemer, a gifted ophthalmologist.
After the father's premature death in Ukraine, 1942, his mother, at the age of 33, was left with three little boys during the war with hardly any income. In 1953, when Robert graduated from the Gymnasium, he worked for 1/2 year in a steel mill to be able to go to medical school at Freiburg, Germany. He finished in the shortest possible time. After his internship, he married his classmate and first love Christel Haller and went straight into ophthalmology at the University of Goettingen. There he found his calling. He worked long hours and loved every minute of it. He published papers on various subjects but felt that the research training he could get at that time was unsatisfactory. In 1966 he received a 2-year Nato fellowship, and he moved with his wife and 3 year old daughter Ruth to Miami, Florida, to work at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as a Research Fellow under the leadership of Ed Norton, who quickly discovered his potential. When Dr. Norton offered him a faculty position after only one year, he blossomed. In short sequence, his work on retinal detachment, vitreoretinal proliferative diseases, macular degeneration, and microsurgical instrumentation followed. He published extensively and received many Prizes and Medals, among others two Honorary Doctoral Degrees.
In 1978 he became Chairman of the Duke University Eye Center with the task to change the department from a clinical into a first-class research department, - the right challenge for him. He loved equally to do surgery, research, develop new instruments, and teaching. He shared generously his knowledge with fellows and residents, who moved on to establish their own successful careers.
In 1991 he stepped down from the chairmanship but remained Professor of Ophthalmology at the Eye Center. He became Editor in Chief of the multilingual Internet Atlas of Ophthalmology. He also wanted to devote more time to his research as well as to his family and his other interests: classical music, reading historical biographies and building remote control model sail ships and airplanes. After his retirement from Duke in 1998 he continued the exploration of his family tree. As a new hobby metal working brought him a great deal of pleasure. A precision pendulum clock built from scratch with the help of his friend Ron was his pride and joy.
He accepted courageously three severe illnesses in his later years: Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.
He is survived by his wife, Christel; daughter, Ruth Domurath and husband, Franz; and his beloved granddaughter, Hallie of Durham; his brother, Hans and wife Sigrun, Peter and wife, Roswitha; sister-in-law, Christa Haller; the nieces, Claudia Haller, Andrea Heiland, Oda Machemer, Elisabeth Machemer, and the nephews, Helmut Machemer and Ernst Machemer, are all living in Germany.
In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Duke Homecare and Hospice at The Hock Family Pavilion, 4023 North Roxboro St., Durham NC 27704.
A celebration of Robert's life will be announced at a later date.
Arrangements by the Cremation Society of the Carolinas. Online condolences at www.cremnc.com