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