{"id":717,"date":"2018-09-22T13:28:56","date_gmt":"2018-09-22T17:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/?p=717"},"modified":"2018-09-26T08:11:31","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T12:11:31","slug":"robert-c-gaertner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/robert-c-gaertner\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert C. Gaertner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BobLake Superior State University business and economics professor Robert Gaertner<\/a> passed away July 29. He was 76.<\/p>\n

Gaertner, originally a native of Saginaw, held degrees from the University of Notre Dame (bachelor of business administration, 1964) and Michigan State University (master of business administration, 1965).<\/p>\n

He started at Lake Superior State College in September 1965 as an instructor in business and economics. He served 1968-69 in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, before returning to LSSC in January 1970. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1970, granted tenure in 1972, elevated to associate professor in 1989, retired in July 2000, and awarded emeritus status in 2001.<\/p>\n

Bob\u2019s wife, Georgegeen, was a professor of English at LSSU from 1965 until 2000, including several years as department head. She passed away in June 2002. He is survived by his son, Fr. Stephen A. Gaertner.<\/p>\n

LSSU Foundation Executive Director Tom Coates, a former student of Professor Gaertner in the 1980s, recalls, \u201cProfessor Gaertner was the toughest prof I ever had here, but it was like a rite of passage getting through his classes. I visited him several times in Midland (after he retired) when I was in the area on business. It was special talking to him in that setting, and of course, we talked about his Fighting Irish football team.\u201d Tom is also a member of the Lambda Sigma Beta fraternity, which Bob advised for some years. \u201cWhen in the Frat, every year we played \u2018Gart Ball\u2019 at the city field,\u201d Tom said. \u201cProf. Gaertner never batted, he just played short stop. I am convinced\u00a0that was a ‘Lake State – style’ experience not to be had at other schools.<\/p>\n

Dr. Madan Saluja, long-time professor in LSSU\u2019s Lukenda School of Business, recalls when Bob Gaertner returned to Lake State in 1970 after serving in the Vietnam War. The business department was housed in Ontario Hall in those days, where the rooms were large but there weren\u2019t enough rooms for each prof to have his own office. Bob had asked Saluja if he could share an office with him and Saluja replied that he\u2019d be happy to have him. \u201cI\u2019m a bachelor \u2013 I\u2019m here until midnight, so I\u2019ll be here most of the time\u201d Saluja warned him. \u201cBut you are welcome to set up a table in my office.\u201d Saluja said that Bob was a good office mate. \u201cHe came early every morning to make coffee before I arrived. If he was late one day, he would make the coffee when he arrived and deliver it to me in my classroom. So thoughtful.\u00a0 I really didn\u2019t like his coffee,\u201d remembered Saluja. \u201cIt was too strong. But he was such a nice guy \u2013 I drank it just out of politeness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saluja said that Gaertner had very high standards. \u201cHe was blunt, tough and demanding \u2013 a lot like me! Students either liked him or avoided him, but there were more who loved him. His bark was worse than his bite, and at heart he was a very gentle soul always thinking of students’ well being.”<\/p>\n

Dr. Saluja recalled that Gaertner served on a number of committees and said that he truly was an asset to this institution. He was very ethical, which Saluja attributed to his strong religious background. \u201cBob was also very blunt in his discussions,\u201dSaluja said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t there to please; he expressed his opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the best office mate ever,\u201d concluded Dr. Saluja. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t ask for a better person as a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

A memorial service was held August 11 in the St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral of Sault Ste. Marie, with Bob\u2019s son, Father Stephen Gaertner\u00a0officiating. Burial was at Riverside cemetery.<\/p>\n

Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider a contribution to the Georgegeen Gaertner Award<\/a> at Lake Superior State University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lake Superior State University business and economics professor Robert Gaertner passed away July 29. He was 76. Gaertner, originally a native of Saginaw, held degrees from the University of Notre …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakerlog.lssu.edu\/fall2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}