Robert E. Eisler, Jr., was born November 14, 1924, to Irene Agnes O’Neill and Robert Edward Eisler in Kansas City, MO. He went to school there and in his teen years worked for The Kansas City Star delivering newspapers on his bicycle. After attending college, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in the China-Burma-India Theater and was stationed in Burma from 1943 to 1946. He was attached to the Chinese Infantry and acted as communications liaison between the Chinese and U.S. Forces. After he was discharged, he got a job setting pins in a bowling alley and was eventually promoted to night manager. One night, a young man came to the counter and asked him if he was married. He said no, so the man asked him to come down and meet his sister, which he did. He met Arlone, and they fell in love and married.
Robert was concerned about the fact that young men like him were working as pinsetters alongside drunks and drug addicts in the bowling alleys around town, and his father recommended that he get them into a union. He did that and became Secretary Treasurer and Business Representative of Service Employees International Union Local 96, where he worked for 28 years. Because of the rising cost of health care insurance, he and a few doctors and employers formed Prime Health, the first health maintenance organization in the midwest. He left his union job and served as the Health Services Director for Prime Health. After the sale to Humana, he became Vice President of Operations and held that role until his retirement in December 1992.
After his retirement, Robert and Arlone enjoyed spending time with family and friends. They went to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado every year, which became a family tradition. Later in years, they became regulars for breakfast at Queen’s Price Chopper in Overland Park, Kansas, and became friends with employees and customers alike. Robert cherished every one of his family and friends, and spending time with them was the highlight of his day.
Robert is survived by his beloved wife of 72 years, Arlone Eisler, and his four children, Carolyn Woodburn, Robert Eisler, Mark Eisler, and Kathleen Zans (Ken); his two grandchildren, Cheryl Helmick (Brian) and Hunter Eisler; two brothers, Richard Eisler (Mary) and Kevin Eisler, as well as countless cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Irene Eisler, and his step-mother, Vera Landi (Dino),and his siblings, John “Jack” Eisler (Lois), James “Leo” Eisler (Mary), Rosemary Dunlap (George), Eileen Puhr (Charles), William “Bill” Eisler (Darlene), and step-sister Joan (Dale) Dolbeare, as well as a few nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Mid-America Chapter, 2020 W. 89th Street, Leawood, KS 66206 (www.msmidamerica.org); Ability KC, 3011 Baltimore Ave., Kansas City, MO 64108 (www.abilitykc.org); The Children’s Place, 6401 Rockhill Rd, Kansas City, MO 64131 (www.childrensplacekc.org).
