On November 2, 2020 Robert Caspar Maegerlein, loving husband of Kathleen and father of four, died at age 84.

Robert was born in Dearborn, MI where he graduated from the University of Detroit before he began teaching high school chemistry and became a father of three with his first wife Rose. He later moved to Des Moines, IA where met and married Kathleen. Robert and Kathleen celebrated their 50 ^th wedding anniversary in 2020.

He went on to work for Dial Finance and Beneficial Finance companies before working for IBM in White Plains, NY, and Rochester, MN. Friend Gary Cooper worked with him while at Beneficial and recalls that Robert had his points of view and was passionate about proper use of the English language. "He argued with almost everybody. We never fought, it's that we debated a lot of things."

Robert expressed great respect for IBM co-worker Wayne Stevens whom he credits as a mentor and for teaching him to be sensitive to structured programming. "Wayne went around looking for things to improve," Bob recalled when thinking about Wayne. "He had great technical influence on my technical life." He kept in touch with Wayne while Wayne was battling cancer.

While living in Belgium and Italy during IBM work assignments, Robert spent many weekends and time off exploring these regions by car with his family. Robert homeschooled his children during the stay in Brussels. Daughter Jill remembers that he was a patient teacher. "We would sit side by side at a table in the late afternoon before he would go to work at night, and he painstakingly demonstrated sentence structure. It's not so much the English lessons that I remember, it's that he taught me to care about detail and I enjoyed watching him write sentences with a fountain pen. He had beautiful writing."

Robert settled in Rochester after completion of the assignment in Italy, where he served on the Rochester School Board, was active in the St. Francis Catholic Church Social Justice Committee and served as lector at St. Francis.

He enjoyed photography and his extensive portfolio includes photos of his children, grandchildren, family, friends and neighbors from Montclair, NJ and Rochester, MN, holiday gatherings and events, his pottery, annual wine tasting gatherings he hosted and the many places he traveled. An accomplished potter, he shared his love of clay creation with his pottery student, Jocelyn. His pottery was displayed at the Rochester SEMVA Art Gallery.

He also enjoyed creating the family Christmas cards and experimenting through the years with various art media. Robert was known for his annual Christmas letters which documented the family news, travels, and highlights of the years beginning in the 1980's. Many of the letters included lessons in proper use of English, commentary on the geese which inhabit greater Rochester, and efforts to bring back the clock tower and bell back to Fire Station # 1 in Rochester. Robert was an author of two books, "It Took A Village" which documented his early years growing up in Dearborn, MI and "A Peripatetic High School Education" which recalls his years in Dallas, TX at a seminary.

Known for his attire of colorful work ties, most of which were made by Kathy from curtain fabric and fabric with distinctive patterns which Robert selected himself. The ties were worn with blue Oxford shirts, Hush Puppy shoes and jeans. The workplace attire was an expression of his individuality and rebellion of the conservative IBM dress code of predominantly white shirts. His good friend Jim Dugan recalls that while he was Bob's manager at IBM, "He was a fun guy. He was a little different. The ties were wild, they were non-standard IBM ties. Bob got away with the ties because it was a changing time at IBM." Robert said of this time in his career that. "My best work was at IBM under Jim Dugan." It was during that time that Robert was awarded Systems Engineer of the Year by IBM and worked on the system behind the NY Stock Exchange ticker for Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC). He also presented annual reviews of IBM accomplishments in front of SIAC corporate leadership.

Robert is preceded in death by his father and mother, Robert Carl and Mary Louise, his brother John, son Robert and daughter Marian. He is survived by his wife Kathleen, his four children, Jill, Jeff, Jodie and Janet, eight grandchildren Jennifer, Kristen, Kelly, Sara, Hazel, Oliver, Axel and Elliot, his sisters Judy, Marie and Elinor and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral service for Robert will be at 3:00p.m. on Sunday, November 8, 2020 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Rochester, MN. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at church. Live stream of the funeral service is available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQN97e8cA6bYofYeJWJ8_JA/videos?view=57

Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com