Robert C. Bock

Robert Cleland Bock was a generous, humble man. At 93, Dad was nearly blind, hard of hearing and suffered from, almost, continuous hiccups, but never complained. He died with a small bed, a cane, a borrowed rocker and a few hundred dollars in the bank. He repeatedly said that the Lord had been very good to him. He was ready to meet his Maker and knew there was nothing he could take with him. One of 8 children, Dad was born to Cora and Leon Bock on March 9, 1925. He left school in the 11th grade to help his father on the farm. Before he could return to the Academy, he was drafted into the army. He worked in a field hospital in the South Pacific, trained by an army doctor who recognized his potential and hard work. Dad finished high school after the war ended, then graduated from Walla Walla College as a history major. He, briefly, tried teaching, then received a prime piece of farm land from a VA lottery in Washington State. After farming a few years, he sold the farm for enough money to finance medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico. He graduated in 1964 and began work at Oregon State hospital in Pendleton. He moved to San Diego in 1968, and practiced at Kensington Medical Group until he retired. Dad met Virginia Pauline Blain in college. They were married in 1949 and had 3 children; Ray, Patricia and Linda. Mom died in 2001. Dad remarried, Concepcion Lopez, in 2011. It was a blessing that Dad had Concepcion and her son David, to help care for him. By Ray Bock