Robert “Bob” Zufall

Robert Bunger Zufall, MD, passed away peacefully on 5 March 2024, just three months shy of his one-hundredth birthday. He was surrounded by many loving family members.

Bob was born on 3 June 1924, to Gertrude and Merle Zufall in Middletown, New York, and started life in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania. The family moved to Irvington, New Jersey when Bob was two. He grew up there, attending Frank Morrell High School, and spent most of his long life in New Jersey. His first contact with Sullivan County, New York was when his mother brought him up to the Bunger Farm in Ferndale which belonged to Bob’s grandparents. He was just a week old. Throughout his younger years he and his three siblings spent summers there working on the farm.

He began college in 1941 at Princeton University and joined the Navy V12 program, then entered Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1947. On 27 December 1947, he married Kathryn “Kay” Schwindt during the great blizzard. Kay’s parents owned the Yankee Lake Schwindt home, on the North Shore, still standing and still in the family.

After serving his time in the military, Bob practiced medicine mostly in Dover and Morristown, New Jersey. After his retirement, 1989, Bob and Kay volunteered for needy populations worldwide. They then brought their passion for helping back to New Jersey, starting the Dover Free Clinic, which grew to Zufall Health, going strong to this day.

Meanwhile, Bob and Kay were busy raising their growing family, having five children by 1960. While winters included ski trips, summers included many visits to Yankee Lake. Longtime lakers will remember the red Sailfish, and countless children splashing in the swimming area or sunning on the float. Others will remember that Bob was an early adopter of windsurfing. Many decades-long lake friendships evolved which have continued through generations.

Bob was predeceased by his beloved wife, Kay, brother John Zufall, sister Martha Smith, his sons-in-law, Jim Roberts and Gilbert Chambers. He is survived by his youngest sister Alice Fellenzer, his children: Kathryn Zufall, Margaret “Peggy” Roberts (Jim), Ellen Zufall (Gilbert), Nancy Stetten (George), and David Zufall (Heide), and his nine grandchildren: Peder, Kris, Paul, Jimmy, Anna, Amy, Wendy, Alina and Oliver, and eleven great-grandchildren: Blake, Ryan, Olivia, Graham, Daphne, Kira, Spencer, James, Madeleine, Henry and Luca. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, family members, and friends.

Those who knew him well will miss his unique sense of humor, funny rhymes, corny jokes, silly songs, and passion for crossword puzzles. We will all miss his endless kindness, twinkle in his eye, sweet smile, and love of life.