Robert Pommerich (1936-2020)

POMMERICH, WASHBUSH

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 8/28/2020 at 17:51:02

Robert Pommerich, 83, of Dubuque, died Wednesday, August 26, 2020, at his home at Assisi Village.

In his own words…
Bob was born December 29, 1936, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the only child of George and Rose (Washbush) Pommerich. In Bob’s senior year at St. Mary’s Springs High School, a letter arrived at school one day from legendary Loras basketball coach Vince Dowd, offering Bob a scholarship to play basketball at Loras. Bob had never heard of Loras college and was not exactly sure where Iowa was. Nevertheless, he traveled by Greyhound bus on a Sunday afternoon in September 1955 to Dubuque and the Loras campus, sight unseen, and enrolled. Everything he brought to Loras was contained in two suitcases, and one of them was not very large. During his senior year at Loras, Bob was interviewed by George Hansen of McGladrey, Hansen, Dunn & Company. He accepted a position on the audit staff in the Chicago office of Arthur Andersen & Co. After receiving his B.A. degree in Accounting from Loras, Bob enlisted in the Army in June 1959, spending 6 months active duty at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In December 1959, he went to work in the Chicago office of Arthur Andersen & Co. In the fall of 1962, Bob began his 37-year teaching career by joining the Accounting faculty at Loras College. He passed the Certified Public Accountant exam in May 1963, receiving Iowa certificate number 640 from Virgil Hancher, who was the President of the University of Iowa and the speaker at the awards banquet. On August 22, 1964 Bob married Mellita Hanten at St. Columbkille Church in Dubuque.

Bob received an M.B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August 1965. He was a pioneer in the development of computer usage at Loras, being the campus representative in a 1968-1970 project funded by the National Science Foundation comprised of a Regional Computer Center network headquartered at the University of Iowa under the direction of Gerard Weeg. Bob was a registration counselor for 17 successive years and served on numerous committees, including a memorable three year term as Chair of the Arts & Lectures Series Committee (1995-1998). During the 1994-1995 year, Bob and Mellita enjoyed a sabbatical year when Bob had an appointment as a visiting scholar (admittedly, a real stretch) at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. In 1991, Bob was honored to receive the Sears Roebuck Foundation Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award. He was also very honored to receive a Loras Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2002. In 2016, Bob was inducted into the Loras College Athletic Hall of Fame as a contributor. Bob was rather well-known for his dubious attempts at humor in the classroom. Frank Noonan coined the term “Pommerisms” in reference to some of his puns and stories.

Physical fitness and exercise were a big part of Bob’s life. He played on the basketball and tennis teams in high school and college. Tennis, in particular, was a life-long love, as he spent many an hour over the years on the courts at Loras and elsewhere. For 11 years, Bob participated in USTA Over 55 and Over 65 singles tournaments at various sites in Iowa. Once retired, Bob liked to exercise every morning. In the colder months, he had a routine at the fitness center. From April into November or December, it was tennis or biking, which he resumed when he acquired a bicycle in 1992. Some additional interests which surfaced following retirement were crossword and sudoku puzzles. Also, Bob enjoyed attending the Wednesday matinee performances during the live racing season at Dubuque Greyhound Park. Bob liked to attend events where food was served.

After retirement in 1999, Bob was named a Professor Emeritus and he maintained his ties to the college. His colleagues, Karen Sturm and Deb Pauly, spearheaded an effort to establish the Robert Pommerich Professorship in his honor. He occasionally helped out in the Business department to fill in for a faculty member as needed. He was the official scorekeeper for Loras Women’s and Men’s basketball from 1998 through 2015. Bob also thoroughly enjoyed his work as an AARP Tax Aide volunteer for 17 years beginning in 2001. He also served on the board of directors at the Dubuque Area Lifetime Center for over 6 years, part of that time being spent in the role of treasurer. Bob also took pleasure in his visits to Wrigley Field, benefiting from complimentary tickets from two former students. He and Mellita greatly enjoyed the weekly duplicate bridge games at the Lifetime Center. They also attended many concerts and plays at Loras and other Dubuque venues and elsewhere. Travel to visit children and grandchildren was also a distinct pleasure. One of the highlights of Bob’s life was being at centre court at Wimbledon in 1998 for the finals of the Men’s Singles (Pete Sampras beat Goran Ivanisevic in five sets) and the Women’s Doubles. Bob loved competition and always did his best to win, whether it was in board games with his children, on the tennis or racquetball court, at the bridge table, or in the fantasy football league with his Loras colleagues. He considered himself extremely fortunate to have survived cardiac arrest, suffered in November 2002, prostate cancer, diagnosed in November 2007, and a stroke, suffered in April 2015. In his healthier years, he was a regular blood donor.

In 2007, Bob was granted a free Life membership in the American Accounting Association, by virtue of having been a member of the AAA for 40 consecutive years.
Bob relished his roles as husband, father, and grandfather. He was extremely proud of his wife, children, and grandchildren.

He is survived by four children and five grandchildren: Karen (Michael Hosford) Pommerich of Swannanoa, North Carolina, Jim (Finola) Pommerich and their children, Liam, Tara, and Rory, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Mary Pommerich (Skip Kadish) of Marina, California, and John (Karen Saxer) Pommerich and their children, Earl and Raymond, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mellita, on April 10, 2018.

Memorials may be given to the Pommerich professorship at Loras College, the Dubuque Rescue Mission, or the charity of your choice.

A private Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Church of the Nativity with Rev. Msgr. James Miller as the Celebrant. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Key West. There will be a public Memorial Mass and Celebration of Life held at a later date.

The family would like to thank the staff of Assisi Village and Hospice of Dubuque for their kind and compassionate care.

Hoffmann Schneider & Kitchen Funeral Home and Cremation Service is in care of the arrangements.

Condolences can be sent to the family by visiting Bob’s obituary at www.hskfhcares.com.