Robert Moore Oneal

Robert Moore (Bob) Oneal, plastic surgeon and clinical professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School, died peacefully on April 22 at Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital, where he was chief of staff in 1988 and 1989. He was 92 years old.

Bob’s career spanned a period of great innovation in the field of plastic surgery. He was an early member of the team led by Reed O. Dingman that launched and expanded the specialty at U-M and became well known for his work on congenital defects like cleft lips and palates as well as breast reconstruction and rhinoplasty. He launched a private group practice at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (now Trinity) in 1969 and over the next 50 years was a renowned teacher and mentor for generations of U-M plastic surgery residents.

Bob was a founding member of the Rhinoplasty Society, was widely published in peer reviewed journals and co-produced a rhinoplasty lecture series that remains a key training resource for residents. He also co-wrote a history of the Dingman years called “Leaders in Plastic Surgery” and made a number of trips to South America with Interplast.org, a volunteer group devoted to providing free surgical care and teaching to under-resourced communities around the world.

“Bob had a logical, constructive and curious mind,” said his partner Paul Izenberg. “He was constantly looking for improved ways to approach and treat congenital, reconstructive and cosmetic problems.”

Bob was born in Evanston, IL., the only child of Claire Elmo Oneal and Virginia Moore Oneal. His family moved to Wilmette after first grade and he attended Central Elementary School. He graduated from New Trier High School in 1950 and attended Dartmouth College, where he completed pre-med studies and two years of medical school, graduating in 1954. He completed his medical studies at Harvard University, earning his medical degree in 1957.

While still at Dartmouth, Bob’s parents moved to Omaha, where his father practiced as a landscape architect. The move was fortuitous as it led to what Bob often referred to as his greatest accomplishment: winning over a local beauty named Zibby Bisgard. The two were in a wedding together and the following Thursday Bob called Zibby for a date on Saturday. She demurred, saying she had a previous engagement, but invited him to “call again sometime.” Fifteen minutes later, he dialed her back to say “what about Sunday?” The answer was yes and the rest is history.

The two were married in 1956 and lived in Boston for a year before moving to Ann Arbor, where Bob entered a mixed-surgery internship at the U-M hospital, followed by a general surgery residency. He moved to Omaha in 1963 to begin a general surgical practice and a teaching position at the University of Nebraska, but switched gears in 1964 and returned to Ann Arbor to accept a plastic surgery residency under Dr. Dingman. He eventually launched his own practice while continuing a clinical professorship at U-M and was always most proud of his role as a mentor to colleagues and U-M residents over the ensuing decades. Even after his retirement from active practice in 2006, he continued his mentoring role, especially in the discipline of rhinoplasty.

Bob’s curiosity and engagement extended well beyond medicine. He often said the second part of his life was devoted to educating himself in areas he had missed out on over the intense years of medical school. After studying classical literature in his spare time, he co-taught a section of Great Books in the English department with his wife Zibby, a well-known author of children’s books. He was also passionate about music, both as a listener (early jazz) and a practitioner (piano and clarinet). He became a golf nut in retirement, loved to star-gaze and both skied and played tennis into his 80s.

Among his friends and colleagues Bob was famous (some might say infamous) for his devotion to progressive politics. He was an early opponent of the Vietnam war and was a fierce advocate for social justice. He co-founded an organization called the Interfaith Partnership for Political Action, volunteered at the St. Andrews Breakfast Program in Ann Arbor and went door-to-door campaigning for Obama in Indiana, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Throughout his life, Bob’s mornings consisted of alternately taking bites of oatmeal and swearing at the newspaper.

If Bob’s political fervor ran hot, however, he was a loving husband, devoted father and joyful grandfather. When asked to choose his grandpa name, he earnestly picked "Boötes," after the herdsman constellation, which he hoped would always remind his grandchildren that he was watching over and protecting them from above. They, of course, called him Booty. He loved it. Colleagues and family alike will remember him as a patient teacher, an excellent listener and someone who would loyally stand by their side. He will also be remembered for his goofy sense of humor and endearing enthusiasms. Once told that monkeys peel bananas from the bottom, for instance, he insisted on doing it that way for the rest of his life and would encourage anyone who would listen to do the same.

Bob was preceded in death by Zibby, his wife of 69 years, who passed away exactly three months earlier in January 2025. He leaves behind his daughter Lisa Conway (m. Bob) of Minneapolis; his son Michael Oneal (m. Anne Fiorito) of Oakland, CA; three grandchildren: Madeleine Conway (m. Chris Lazinski) of Minneapolis, Duncan Conway of Brooklyn, NY and Charlie Oneal of Oakland; and a great grandson, Maxwell Lazinski of Minneapolis.

Bob’s family would like to give heartfelt thanks to the devoted team of women who cared for him so lovingly at the end of his life: Amanda Harmon, Krystal Sandusky, Mary Gardner, Dorothy Dasine and Norma Hunt. We would also like to thank the lovely people at Homewatch Caregivers.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in his honor may be made to the Breakfast Program at St. Andrews in Ann Arbor.

A Joint Memorial Service for Bob and Zibby will be held on September 14, 2025, from 12:00 PM to 03:00 PM at Ann Arbor Golf and Outing Club located at 400 E Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.