with gratitude for a long, full, and happy life.
He was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 12, 1933, the son of the late Francis Wohman and Robert Burgett. He was adopted shortly after birth and raised by the late Minnie and Louis De Fer. Bob was the beloved husband of Doris (nee Middleton-Melvin) De Fer and the late Susan Ann (nee Lindberg) De Fer, devoted father of William L. (Ellen M.) De Fer, Robert L. (Kathryn Hartrick) De Fer, Jr., Thomas M. (James Moll) De Fer, and Julie E. (Mark C.) Jacob; loving grandfather Amy (Peter) Geiger, Allison (Joe Bricker) De Fer, Katie (Hays) Pickens, Matthew De Fer, Margaret De Fer, Eleanor De Fer, and Noah Jacob; great-grandfather of five, dear brother of Marylou Truelove, half-brother, brother-in-law, stepfather, step-grandfather, uncle, and a friend to many in his lifetime.
Bob grew up in the Les Cheneaux islands of the upper peninsula of Michigan. He graduated from
Cedarville High School in a class of thirteen. He attended Michigan State University until he was drafted into the US Army under the Cold War peacetime draft in 1956. He chose to make the military his career and was commissioned as an officer in the Field Artillery after completing Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. His Army service included overseas tours of Korea and Germany and a combat tour of Vietnam, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. He retired from the US Army in 1976 at the rank of Major.
Bob’s second career was as a Business Administrator at the St. Louis University Hospital Department of Radiology. He was a long-time member of America's National Churchill Museum Board of Governors and provided an endowment for paid internships, permitting the museum to expand its efforts to research, digitize, and catalog its world-class collection.
Bob will be laid to rest at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in a private ceremony where Full Military Honors will be bestowed.
In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Robert L. De Fer Archives and Collections Internship Endowment at America's National Churchill Museum in Fulton MO.
Please leave a fond memory of Bob for his family to cherish at the "Add a Memory" link below.
