Robert John Astheimer

Robert J. Astheimer, a modern-day Renaissance man, passed away on August 28 at Inova Fairfax Hospital with family at his side. He was 66. Bob was born in Lancaster, PA, the youngest of three siblings, to German and Latvian/Russian immigrants Fritz and Olga. He is survived by the family he loved dearly – his partner JoAnn, his brother Peter Astheimer and wife Susan of Lancaster; his sister Anita Cook and husband David of Arlington, NE; nephews Andy (Jennifer), Erik (Thi), Kurt (Karen), and Daniel (Heather); niece Jennifer; and six grand-nephews and -nieces.

During his middle/high school years, Bob lived in Grand Island, NE, where he became an avid Cornhusker fan. In 1971, when Bob was only 17, his father died – a painful loss that would shape Bob’s life and bring him closer to his mother Olga. They had a special bond that was beautiful to see. After attending the University of Nebraska for one year, Bob moved back to Pennsylvania with his mom. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where he earned B.A. degrees in Chemistry and Sociology in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1982. For his doctoral work, Bob synthesized and characterized boron cluster compounds, identifying new cage compounds and novel fluorocarbon adjuncts. Bob loved to put on chemistry shows for the Penn freshmen and he would engineer a surprise welcome for new Penn Chemistry grad students each year. Bob’s classmates would smile knowingly as he snuck away from the meet-and-greet barbecue, and laugh out loud when everyone jumped at the loud boom from the Chemistry Department roof. Yes, Bob loved chemistry. He formed a life-long friendship with his Ph.D. advisor Professor Larry Sneddon. And it was at Penn that Bob met JoAnn - the love of his life - and began their 40-year life journey together.

In 1982, Bob started his professional career at Colgate Palmolive in Piscataway, NJ where he developed a human evaluation softness test for fabric softeners that is still being used today. He also continued the softball hobby he had started at Penn, pitching for Colgate’s softball team and contributing at the plate with his unconventional but effective tomahawk chop swing. In 1989, Bob joined JoAnn in Alexandria, VA and began his career with the U.S. Department of Energy where he would serve as Senior Technical Advisor in the Office of Basic Energy Sciences until his retirement in 2014. During his tenure at DOE, Bob helped advance the Office of Science mission in many ways. His co-workers often sought his wisdom and his help; he was a mentor to many. Bob’s attention to detail, knowledge of how things work, and his sense of humor made him an invaluable resource to all who had an opportunity to work with him.

Swimming was Bob's passion. He lettered in varsity swimming at Penn and continued swimming for the rest of his life. He completed the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (GCBS) 26 times, winning or placing second in his age group 10 times from 1993 to 2003. He also completed the 7.5-mile Potomac River Swim (PRS) for the Environment, guided by his friend and kayaker Mark Davis, landing first five of seven times. In fact, Bob’s time of 2:32:30 in the 2003 PRS is a record that still stands today. In August 2003, Bob suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed his right side. It slowed him down but didn't stop him - in June 2004, he was back in the water - completing his 12th Bay Swim and 14 more in the years following. As the number of GCBS participants increased each year, Bob noted that many of the same swimmers returned year after year, as he did, to compete in the event. Working with the organizers, Bob established a database that tracked the swimmers’ performances and enabled them to recognize swimmers for successfully finishing the 4.4-mile swim multiple times. Receiving milestone awards for 10, 15, 20, etc., finishes contributed to the event’s popularity. The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for the March of Dimes.

Bob loved animals, especially cats. He was owned by several cats over his lifetime and enjoyed every minute of it. He shared many stories of his beloved childhood cat Sneakers. He loved that Cassie, his beautiful Himalayan, would come running to him when he sang the National Anthem. He adopted and christened Halloween when the black beauty appeared on his deck one October night. He cried when Cleo, a rescued Norwegian forest cat, finally overcame her feral nature and climbed onto his lap. But it was Sasha who was the feline love of his life – the beautiful, gregarious Maine Coon, a 3-time cat calendar girl, lit up his life for 18 years. She had a place at his table for breakfast, lunch and dinner; in his bed and on his lap, until her dying day. Bob agreed to JoAnn’s birdfeeder when he saw how Sasha loved to watch the birds from her window perch. And then he became attached to the birds – whistling with the warblers, chirping with the cardinals, cooing with the mourning doves, imitating the blue jay’s raucous call, and gently scolding the woodpeckers for tapping holes in his apple tree. One day when a sparrow harassed him, Bob figured out that the bird’s mate had somehow gotten trapped within the walls of the house, and he spent a day opening vents and helping the bird find its way out. He rejoiced when she rejoined her mate at the birdfeeder. Bob fed apples to the deer that occasionally appeared behind his home, and where many people would have been horrified, Bob laughed when he observed two juvenile raccoons playfully shredding the cushion of his deck chair one night. Bob swam with the manatees in Florida and over the past couple years, he marveled at “Animals with Cameras” capturing the behavior and habitat of their own species and others.

Bob pursued a number of different interests during his lifetime. An early interest was good beer. Trips with grad school friends to Philly establishments such as the Khyber Pass became trips to the Brickskeller in DC for the latest and greatest. This led to several years of Bob’s homebrewing, which was still quite novel in the early 1980s. Bob was very good at it, of course, mixing his homebrews with his most recent finds in blind beer tastings, and keeping a detailed lab notebook on each brew. Bob was also a great cook. He pursued mycology for several years, often foraging for wild mushrooms and treating his friends and family to a variety of mushroom concoctions. Then he spent several years mastering the art of chili-making, competing his latest recipe at DC’s Annual Chili Bull and inviting family and friends to join him for the party – an annual reunion tradition that would last for many years.

Outside of chemistry, Bob’s intellectual side took him first to the JFK assassination. Determined to come to his own conclusions, he read every book written on the subject and the entire Warren Commission report. His ancestry drove him to study the history of Hitler and the Nazis, Russia and Latvia, and World War II. His interest in astronomy led to a fascination with solar eclipses. When he traveled to Germany in 1999 – staying at the Ayinger brewery, of course - clouds threatened to obstruct views of the eclipse. Bob hopped into a car with his friends and chased the sun around the German countryside, landing in a cow pasture with a perfect view and the requisite “sun” songs on the radio. In 2017, Bob traveled to Nebraska to witness the solar eclipse with friends and family - on another partly cloudy day and in another car chasing the sun - this time through the Nebraska countryside - and ending up – once again – in a cow pasture. During the past five years, Bob became his family’s historian. He spent endless hours translating German, Latvian, and Russian newspaper articles into English, making his family’s history come alive for his siblings and their children.

Bob loved to photograph people, but only when they weren't aware of the camera. He preferred to capture the essence of a person rather than the posed or scripted image. One of his favorite targets was JoAnn’s family. Initially shocked to find his reserved, introverted, small-family self in the midst of JoAnn’s large boisterous Italian-Irish family, he soon fell in love with them and quietly photographed their family gatherings and videotaped their annual karaoke parties. Bob would often surprise people later with a photo they never knew was taken – a photo that would make them laugh or smile – never wince.

Bob had a beautiful smile and a contagious laugh. He took a genuine interest in everyone he met, an endearing quality that led him to several close friendships over the years. He had a friendly rivalry with his Chesapeake Bay swim buddies Jim and Rodney. His grad school friends – Mike, Ned and Tom - and his Colgate cronies – Gail and Dean – would join Bob and JoAnn and a host of other friends and family for the Chili Bull each year, solar eclipse trips, and reunions at Nationals and Phillies baseball games. He marveled at Kristin’s mountain climbing accomplishments; he was one of her biggest cheerleaders. And he looked forward to restaurant excursions with his dinner group – Dawn and Al, Sara, and Nancy. Family and friends were very important to Bob. The responses to his passing have had a common theme - a one-of-a-kind person throughout his life, a kind and gentle man, with all of those who’ve been fortunate enough to be part of his journey having had a richer existence for it.

This synopsis of Bob’s life would be incomplete without mentioning the concerns he expressed about the state of the country he loved – the country that welcomed his immigrant parents and siblings. He had voiced concerns about Congress for many years, hoping they would find their way back to the collaboration so important to progress, and to putting the people first. As a scientist, sociologist, public servant, and empathetic man, Bob became especially concerned about people and planet over the past four years and disturbed by the state of our government’s executive branch. He was hoping for change and had been looking forward to being a part of that change.

A celebration of Bob’s life will be scheduled in the Spring, somewhere near the Chesapeake Bay. Those who wish to honor Bob now may do so by donating to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to support restoration of the Bay and its rivers and streams, or to the MPN Research Foundation to support development of better treatments for rare blood disorders such as polycythemia vera, which ultimately led to our losing Bob much too soon.

Memories of Bob may be shared on his memorial page at Demaine Funeral Home. To those whom Bob loved and those who loved him, he would want you to remember his retirement motto – Eat, Sleep, Swim.