In Memoriam

Robert A. Wijsman

20 August 1920-5 February 2005

Dear Friends,

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Robert Wijsman passed away last weekend at his home in Seattle, Washington. He died peacefully in his sleep and without pain.

Many of you would be aware that he had battled renal cancer beginning in 1993, and that he managed to sustain a high quality of life for over ten years, despite the lingering threat of this disease, due to his determination and tenacity in maintaining his fitness and overall health (not least by continuing to ride his bicycle several times a week until about a week before his death!) It was, unfortunately, the cancer that prevailed in the end, as a secondary malignant tumor formed in his lung and caused a rapid decline in his respiratory function in the last two weeks of his life. It is gratifying to note that he was still living to the fullest extent he was capable until just the last 48 hours, testifying to his quiet but remarkable inner strength.

Colleagues in the field of statistics will remember his agile mind, and the thoroughness, care and precision that characterized virtually everything he did. He was very generous with his time and in support of colleagues and students. He had an amazing intellectual curiosity that he sustained to the very end of his life, and was still publishing in his field in 2004. His bicycling was well-known in both Champaign-Urbana and Seattle.

His knowledge and enjoyment of classical music was well-known among family and friends. While he only stopped playing the piano about a year ago, he continued listening to music with great interest. He often listened to the local classical radio station in Seattle until the small hours of the morning while he attended to other domestic activities, taking note of any good piece or composer he didn’t already know. He had an excellent sense of humor, and particularly enjoyed puzzles and word play. Although a typically frugal Dutchman, who never wasted even the last drop of anything, he was also very generous to many charitable organizations, with his contributions to some of these starting back in the 1960’s and continuing to the end of 2004, particularly those dedicated to the preservation of the environment, human rights and the political causes he supported. He was highly principled and a true gentleman.

We will be holding an informal gathering to celebrate his life on Sunday, 27 February 3-5 pm at home in Seattle. As we are aware that many of you will be unable to be with us, we invite you to send any thoughts or reflections you might have otherwise contributed on the occasion. Please let us know if you can join us.

Our family requests that, rather than sending flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the following organizations which he supported:

University of Illinois Foundation-Math Library Fund

National Parks and Conservation Association

Amnesty International

International House of the University of California, Berkeley

Sincerely,

Gertrud, Ellen, Nettie and Suzie Wijsman

9 February 2005