Robert King, Class of 1961

Robert King ’61 died April 6, 2021. Bob was born May 30, 1938 to the late Clark and Helene King and grew up in Lorain, Ohio. He graduated from Lorain High School, and subsequently attended Otterbein College in Westerville, OH. While attending college, he was in the band, Lambda Gamma Epsilon (Kings) fraternity and met and later married Mary Thompson ’63.

As a medical technologist and clinical chemist, Bob’s career took him and Mary from the University of Florida in Gainesville, to the State University of New York in Syracuse, and finally to Henry Ford Health System in Detroit where he was the supervisor of the Chemistry Lab in Henry Ford Hospital for 27 years. While at Henry Ford Hospital in the early 1980s, Bob assisted in the implementation of their first automated laboratory result reporting system which helped reduce turnaround time for reporting clinical lab test results. As Henry Ford Health System expanded, Bob was proud to participate in opening Chemistry sections in new laboratories at some of the new HF medical centers in Southeastern Michigan.

Bob was a longtime member of the Masons, and on December 8, 1979, he was installed as Worshipful Master of the Southfield Lodge for 1980. While his condition, living many years with dementia caused by Lewy Body Disease, prevented active participation in his later years, Bob continued to wear his Masonic ring and was delighted when it was recognized when he traveled.

Bob was predeceased by his parents, his son Timothy and daughter Alyson, and his first wife Mary Thompson King ’63. He is survived by his wife, Claudine Heldt-King, son Clark (Natalie), daughter Melanie King Jackson (Brad), and his beloved grandchildren, Thomas King, Alyssa Weaver (Jacob), Aaron Stierna, and Zachary King Jackson.