Robert Sommer

Robert Georg Sommer passed away from heart failure in Falmouth, Maine on April 1st, completing a full and rewarding life while surrounded by his family.

Bob was born in 1933 in Vienna, Austria, the son of Robert Sommer and Mathilde Eberling. He was evacuated from Vienna on the Red Cross Kindertransport in 1939 to a foster home in England after the Nazis incarcerated his father in Dachau and then Buchenwald. Bob emigrated to the United States in 1940 once he was reunited with his parents in England. After moving around the United States, the family settled in Richmond, Maine for the remainder of Bob's childhood. It was there that Bob’s father resumed practicing medicine as the community's general practitioner.

Bob graduated from the Kents Hill School, Tufts University - where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa - and the University of Rochester School of Medicine where he earned his MD in 1959. After serving in the United States Air Force in Fairbanks, Alaska from 1961-64, Bob moved back to the northeast where he completed medical residencies in internal medicine and dermatology at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH.

Bob practiced dermatology for nearly 30 years in Portland, Maine and was for many years the director for the division of dermatology at the Maine Medical Center. He was predeceased in 1981 by Barbara Black Sommer, his wife of 22 years and the mother of his four children. Since 1993, Bob has been married to Gretchen Markey Payson. Together, he and Gretchen enjoyed traveling, hosting large family dinners, and visiting with their 13 grand-children.

Throughout Bob’s life, he shared his unique dry wit and passion for fly-fishing with friends and family. While disappointed in his sons’ fly fishing technique, Bob took great pride in his daughter’s fly casting skills. Bob also enjoyed white-water canoeing, downhill and cross-country skiing and reading, especially works from his favorite authors, John McPhee, E.B. White, and Paul Theroux. Bob was also a regular timing official at his sons’ swim meets, rising to the rank of head timer.

One of Bob’s favorite fishing spots was Grassy Pond in Baxter State Park. He returned every year with the same group, camping in the same camp site. On one particular trip, a large brook trout managed to elude Bob by breaking the fishing line and stealing one of his best hand-tied muddlers. The next day while fishing in the same spot with one of his sons, he caught the same fish, retrieved his muddler from the previous day and released the fish back to the pond.

Among Bob’s happiest memories were those of raising his two youngest sons as a single parent through their high school years. This happy period was marred by a major heart attack in 1983. For his recovery, Bob’s children helped him improve his swimming technique which, combined with his survivor spirit and resilience, resulted in Bob swimming a mile and a quarter daily. Bob’s road back to good health amazed his doctors, while his mastery of the flip turn amazed his children.

Bob and Gretchen became snowbirds in 1998 when Gretchen’s love of warmer climates and gardening was matched by Bob’s discovery that he could fish year-round if they wintered in Florida. New friends, transplanted familiar faces from Maine, a steady stream of visitors, and alligators near Bob’s favorite fishing spots made Bonita Springs welcoming and exciting for them both.

Bob is survived by his wife, Gretchen Payson Sommer of Bonita Springs, Florida and Falmouth, Maine; his four children and spouses: Karen of Arlington, Mass., Rob and Teresa of Evanston, Illinois, John and Lorri of Portland, Maine, and Jeffrey and Dominique of West Bath, Maine; three step-children and spouses: Steve and Catalina of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, David of Portland, Maine and Keisha and John of Brunswick, Maine; and thirteen grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Falmouth, Maine at 10:00 am on Tuesday, April 6th. Visitation will be in the Guild Room of St. Mary’s Parish Hall from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Monday April 5th.

Friends can remember Bob by taking a loved one fishing or by sending a donation to Kents Hill School in Kents Hill, Maine.