Robert (Bob) Lee Meckelnburg, M.D. passed away on August 14, 2025, at the age of 94. Bob was born in Pittsburgh, PA, the only child of Robert and Virginia Meckelnburg. In the 1940’s Bob’s family moved to Bala Cynwyd, PA where Bob attended Lower Merion High School graduating in 1948. Bob attended Ursinus College where he met Katharine (Kay) Loman. They both graduated pre-med in 1952. Bob attended Jefferson Medical College, gained admission to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and graduated in 1956.Bob and Kay were married in 1954. Following Medical School, Bob served a medical internship in the Air Force while stationed in Mrytle Beach, SC. He completed his medical residency at the Detroit Medical Center in Detroit, MI. In 1963, Bob was certified by the American Board of Medicine to practice Internal Medicine. Subsequently, Bob and Kay moved to Wilmington DE, where Bob joined the medical practice of Dr. Robert Frelick. He also joined the staff of Wilmington Hospital, specializing in internal medicine and cancer treatment. In the 1970’s, he developed a practice in Nuclear Medicine.Later he started his own practice as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid, osteoporosis and diabetic patients. Bob continued to practice medicine in Delaware until retiring in 2019 at the age of 88. His patients loved him and always commented on his dapper dressing. Bob was a member of many societies including, the American Medical Association; the Medical Society of Delaware; the American Cancer Society; the Delaware Academy of Medicine, where he was President; the Society of Nuclear Medicine; and the Delaware Society of Nuclear Medicine, where he was Secretary-Treasurer and President. He was appointed by Delaware Governors to serve two terms on the Delaware Board of Medical Practice. He also established and served as Chief of Nuclear Medicine at Christiana Care.
Bob had many and varied hobbies and other pursuits outside of his medical career. In his younger years, he was a lifeguard on Dewey Beach, rowed for the Bachelors Barge Club on the Schuylkill River, enjoyed snow skiing, mountain climbing, and wrestled in high school. He loved taking his young family camping in New England and later taking them to exotic Caribbean islands for scuba diving and snorkeling. He was an avid scuba diver and underwater photographer and was a member of the international Explorer’s Club. He was a licensed private pilot, owned his own plane, and was a licensed aviation medical examiner. He played golf and despite a high handicap made holes-in-one on two separate occasions.
Bob and Kay traveled the world together, including to both Antarctica and the North Pole where he took the polar bear plunge. They went to Bali before it was trendy and went scuba diving in Truk Lagoon. They visited Eastern Europe prior to the Berlin Wall coming down and shared a meal at their friends’ home overlooking the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. They went on an African safari and saw the ‘Big Five’. Bob’s favorite place to visit was London. In England, Bob and Kay enjoyed dining, going to plays, and touring the countryside with their English friends. Bob and Kay have owned a home in Avalon, NJ since 1970 and loved entertaining their closest friends every summer weekend. Bob was a wine enthusiast. He had his own wine collection and wrote wine articles for the Wilmington University and Whist Club’s newsletter and the Wine Enthusiast magazine. In their 70’s, Bob and Kay took up ballroom dancing, winning multiple awards at competitions. Bob loved entertaining his friends and thoroughly enjoyed life; he was fond of saying, “Keep moving, death is very still.”
Bob was pre-deceased by his parents Robert and Virgina, son Thomas Scott, and son-in-law Randy Stone. He is survived by Kay, his wife of 71 years; daughters Cheryl Stone, Sharon Struthers, (Ric Struthers), Lauren Cochran (Jeff Cochran) and son Douglas; daughter-in-law Mary Grez; grandchildren Ryan (Serena Sondhi), Brice (Liz Gormisky), and Corrie Struthers, Evan and Caren Meckelnburg; and great grandchildren Nolan Struthers (Ryan) and Charlie Struthers (Brice).
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA; Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA; or Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
For online condolences visit: www.mccreryandharra.com
