Robert Edward Maurer

Robert “Bob” Maurer, 94, passed away peacefully in Pittsboro, NC on October 31, 2026. Bob will be remembered for his dedication to family, commitment to learning, and overcoming challenges through a strong work ethic. He was grateful for his family, mentors, friends, and caretakers that helped him navigate life and live it fully.

Bob was born on August 16, 1932, in Petoskey, Michigan and was the 7th of 12 children. He was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. He loved to recount stories of his early days in Hastings, Michigan. He attended St. Rose Catholic School and served as an altar boy. His father passed away in 1944, and his mother made sure that all of the kids helped to work as a team around the house and support the family. His mother also taught him to play bridge, a social activity that he enjoyed all his life.

His first job was peddling papers. He started reading the newspaper about the war, food stamps, gas rationing, Pearl Harbor, Hitler, Stalin, and the atomic bomb. This got him interested in history and in the habit of reading the newspaper every day.

In high school, he had a series of surgeries to correct his palate and lip along with dental work. He would either hitchhike or take the train or bus from Hastings to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The principal at Hastings High School, Mr. Taylor, had a major impact on Bob’s life by identifying that he had speech and reading challenges. Mr. Taylor arranged for the local Kiwanis club to pay for speech therapy camp and travel for the dental work.

He was drafted into the Army for the Korean War. He was trained as a medic and promoted to Sargeant First Class. His experience built his confidence in his abilities and showed him that extra effort could pay off. While serving in the army, he developed a lifelong fear of flying due to incidents both as a passenger and serving as a medic for plane accidents.

When Bob returned, his sisters Laura and Barbara convinced him of the value of a college degree. Initially turned down because of poor grades in high school, he was accepted on probation at Western Michigan University in the accounting program. Bob credited his family and professors with helping him graduate college. A communications professor had him take special courses for reading, writing, speech, and how to study. His brother George also tutored him.

In his first semester, he met Joann La Beau. They married in 1956 and had five children, JoAnne, Jennifer, Janice, Joseph, and Jane. Bob was always grateful that the La Beau family provided great support for the kids. Joann and Bob eventually separated and divorced.

Bob graduated from college in 1959, which was a tough job market. His speech therapist, Dr. Charles Van Riper, provided encouragement and reinforcement that he may have to work harder than others to get a job. Bob recounted that it took about 100 interviews to eventually get a job offer from a company that did books for doctors and dentists.

Bob had excelled in his computer programming course and a former college professor called about a job opening a couple of years later. The university needed help installing and running the computer and tabulating equipment as well as assisting students to write computer programs. Bob saw an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with computers. The job required Bob to enroll in the graduate program for mathematics, and he wrote a masters’ thesis on Artificial Intelligence.

Bob accepted a job at Geigy Chemical Company in New York. He helped the research division use computers to process medical information, track patients on new drugs, and integrate lab automation. As the use of the computers expanded, he became a manager. He was appreciative of bosses and co-workers who provided mentorship on people development, management style, and planning. His work required him to travel, and he had a reputation for being on flights that experienced technical problems. He loved to share plane stories.

He developed a friendship with Dorothy “Dotty” Stemmler who also worked at Geigy. Dotty enjoyed spending time with Bob’s five children, and they married in November 1971. They moved to Cedar Grove, NJ and had two more children, Maureen and Christine. Dotty and Bob shared a love of the beach and started to take an annual beach vacation with all the children, a tradition that lasted nearly 40 years.

In 1985, he transferred to Greensboro, NC and eventually retired from Ciba-Geigy. Bob stayed active with golf, tennis, and bridge and was grateful for the relationships he developed in retirement. He started a hiking group with friends in 1992 and planned two trips a year to hike to waterfalls. Dotty and Bob were also leaders in the Greensboro chapter of the Optimist Club.

Bob had severe hearing loss in both ears. Despite these issues, his love of classical musical, and Beethoven especially, led him to learn to play the piano in his 60s. He took piano lessons, practiced every day, and set goals to learn more challenging pieces.

Dotty loved to travel, but because Bob would not get back in an airplane, they focused on road trips. They visited family, and his youngest brother Louie helped him plan cross-country trips to see National Parks.

Dotty and Bob moved to Galloway Ridge in Pittsboro, NC in 2014. He continued to be active through the gym, walking, yoga, bridge, book clubs and current events groups. He took care of Dotty until she passed away in 2018 after 47 years of marriage. The activities coordinators and nursing staff did an excellent job engaging and taking care of them both.

Bob saw his life as full of luck: lucky to be married and have 7 children as well as 11 grandchildren, to be born into a supportive family, to work in an engaging career, to develop friendships through his retirement activities, and to have good health despite his early challenges. In his own words, “I would not trade my life with anyone.”

He was preceded in death by his wife, his parents, and eight of his siblings. He is survived by his seven children and their spouses, eleven grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and three of his siblings: Leo Maurer, Jean Annabel, and Louie Maurer.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in his honor to Operation Smile.

601 W Rosemary St, Unit 109
Chapel Hill NC 27516

Direct access from N. Merritt Mill Road or via the Greenbridge front lobby on Rosemary St.

• Free parking is available:
• - St. Paul AME Church on N. Merritt Mill Rd. in the gravel lot across from Greenbridge
• - Midway Business Center lot on N. Merritt Mill Rd. between former Crooks Corner Restaurant and Midway Business Center
• - Hampton Inn Parking Deck, accessible from either E. Main Street or Boyd Street. When exiting the garage, walk along E. Main Street, and turn left onto N. Merritt Mill Road
• - Street parking along N. Merritt Mill Road