40 | DECEMBER 10 • 2020
Dedicated To Serve
D
r. Robert Steven
Jampel, 94, of
Bloomfield Hills, died
Nov. 26, 2020, after a three-
week battle with COVID-19.
Bob was born in the Bronx,
N.Y., on Nov. 3, 1926, and
attended the Bronx High
School of Science.
He was very close to his
parents and sister and one
uncle who inspired him to
become a doctor. “
As a boy,
I accompanied my uncle on
Saturdays on house calls he
made to poor neighborhoods.
I was fascinated by what he
was doing,” he said.
A bright young man,
Dr. Jampel turned down a
scholarship from Harvard
College to earn his bachelor’s
degree at Columbia University
while training to be a naval
officer in the rigorous V-12
program. The Navy sent him
for a semester to Princeton
University, but Dr. Jampel
returned to Columbia
University to complete his
medical degree. He graduated
from the College of Physicians
and Surgeons in 1950 at age
23.
After completing a
neurology residency and an
ophthalmic residency at the
University of Michigan, Dr.
Jampel earned a doctoral
degree in anatomy.
While he was training
in Ann Arbor, the Korean
War had begun, and he
was recalled to duty by the
Navy. This time, Dr. Jampel
was asked to serve as a
neurologist and quickly gained
responsibility for an entire
ward of wounded young
men at the Bethesda Naval
Hospital. After the war was
over, he returned to Michigan
to complete his medical
training.
While at the University of
Michigan, Bob met the love
of his life and his wife of 68
years, Joan Imerman Meyers, a
native of Detroit and daughter
of Henry and Delia Meyers.
The couple were married in
Detroit in Joan’s family home
on Lincolnshire in 1952. Their
marriage was a union of like
minds and endless love.
The couple already
had two young
children when they
left Ann Arbor in
1958 to return to
New York, where
Dr. Jampel was an
assistant professor at
the State University
of New York
Downstate Medical
Center. In 1960, he
returned to his alma mater,
where he established a busy
neuro-ophthalmology practice
and an active neuroanatomy
lab at Columbia University
College of Physicians and
Surgeons Harkness Institute.
In 1970, Wayne State
University recruited Dr.
Jampel to join its faculty. Bob
and Joan packed up their
family of four children and
returned to Joan’s hometown
and the place where the couple
would live together for the
next 50 years.
Dr. Jampel was appointed
chair of the Wayne State
University Department of
Ophthalmology and Director
of the Kresge Eye Institute.
Under his leadership, Kresge
Eye Institute’s growth led
to two relocations, the final
one now in its own building
adjacent to Harper Hospital.
Kresge Eye Institute is
now a national leader in
the treatment of cataracts,
corneal disease, glaucoma,
reconstructive surgery, retina
and neuro-ophthalmology.
As proud as Bob was of his
contributions to the success
of the Kresge Eye Institute,
where he served as chair
until 1994, his time with his
patients, his students and
being in the research lab gave
him the most pleasure and his
greatest sense of professional
accomplishment. He built a
reputation for not only his
expertise, academic rigor and
fine surgical skills, but
for his kindness and
attentiveness toward
his patients. Dr. Jampel
was known for his
warm, approachable
demeanor. He
treated everyone
with respect and
never forgot his own
humble upbringing.
He became known
around Detroit as the go-to-
guy for vision issues, with
patients and other physicians
often recommending others
to “go see Jampel.” Bob’s
eldest son, noting how his
father combined a passion
for science and the practice
of medicine with a strong
dedication to serving others
and restoring sight, decided
to pursue his own career in
ophthalmology. “I settled
on medicine and ultimately
ophthalmology, not because he
told me to do so but because
he set such a good example
and let me observe,” he said.
Above all else, Bob Jampel
was a family man and an
attentive husband. He was
famous for taking his children
on adventures and fostering
their interests and supporting
them in becoming themselves.
Even with his demanding
work schedule, the family sat
down for dinner together most
nights. During these dinners,
Bob would playfully quiz his
children on geography and
current events. Occasionally,
when he would pose a trick
question, Joan was there to call
him out on it.
Dr. Jampel was highly
committed to life-long
learning. He courted his wife-
to-be by taking her to a lecture
on their first date. When one
of his granddaughters was
preparing for her doctorate,
he would send her articles he
thought might interest her.
Until the week before he fell
ill, he was putting the finishing
touches on a scientific paper
which he was planning to
submit for publication. Bob
also loved history, particularly
the history of ophthalmology;
and in his retirement, he gave
14 different presentations
to the Ophthalmological
Historical Society.
He loved and was marveled
by technology. Bob was the
first one in the family to
have his own blog; in his
90s he was on Facebook and
Instagram. YouTube was one
of his favorite pastimes in later
life because he could “learn
just about anything” from
the comfort of his favorite
chair. He would listen to
music, watch movies; and he
figured out how to connect his
hearing aids to Bluetooth on
his phone. At age 92, he asked
a granddaughter to teach him
how to program in Python
so he could really understand
how computers work. And,
when it was suggested he try
a low-sodium diet, he ordered
online some cookbooks so he
could read up on recipes. As
recently as last year, everyone
in the family was at some
point a subject for his study of
the movements of the eye in a
“lab” he set up on his personal
computer in his home study.
Dr. Jampel was a voracious
reader of the New York Times
and always completed the
daily and Sunday crosswords.
Often, he would do so while
multitasking with a game of
chess with his son or grand-
SOUL
OF BLESSED MEMORY
Dr. Robert Jampel