Robert Enno Buuck—entrepreneur, philanthropist, globetrotter, and beloved husband, father, and Boppa—departed peacefully on January 4, 2025, after a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
 

Born in Hong Kong in 1940 to Lutheran missionaries, Bob’s early life was shaped by his captivity in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. After his toddling wartime adventures, he came stateside to be raised in the serene chaos of Arcadia, Indiana, and Garfield, Minnesota.
 

After serving in the U.S. Army, Bob returned to Minnesota’s land of 10,000 lakes. He married the love of his life, Gail, in 1968, and—with help from Gail (mostly) and the GI Bill (somewhat)—he earned his BA in 1970 and an MBA in 1972 from the University of Minnesota Carlson School.
 

In 1972, Bob co-founded American Medical Systems, a pioneering medical device company. With countless others, including his childhood best friend, Gerry Timm, he poured his entire being into growing AMS and its incredible people toward its sale to Pfizer in 1985, serving as CEO until 1993. He continued his visionary leadership in the health-care industry in the 1990s as a director of the Heath Industries Manufactures Association and as a recipient of Medical Alley's Lifetime Achievement Award.
 

Following that success, he helped launch several new start-ups and served on the boards of multiple organizations. In 2003 he was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Carlson School of Management, where he served on the University of Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees, among other positions.  As ever, he brought his wit, wisdom, and unbound generosity with him to all his endeavors and family gatherings.
 

In 1994, Bob and Gail founded the Buuck Family Foundation. Their philanthropy, which continues in earnest, has boosted dozens of organizations and their missions with millions of dollars for over three decades.  Bob was most proud of the Buuck Scholarships at the University of Minnesota—which help over 100 students a year gain their degrees—and their support for pioneering medical research through the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association. In 2000, he and Gail were named Outstanding Individual Philanthropists of the Year by the Minnesota Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and both received the University of MN Trustees Award in 2017.

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Bob’s globetrotting adventures with Gail became the legendary grist for his decades-long Christmas Card publishing mill. Their adventures in more than forty countries supplemented the beauty and tranquility of their homes in Scottsdale, AZ, Bloomington, MN, and, for a time, Lake George, MN, where he pondered life’s great mysteries and battled white-tailed deer and their gastrointestinal proclivities.
 

Bob didn't just travel and write checks in his later years; he also authored a detective novel, The Second Profile, and even penned a poetry collection.
 

Bob touched countless people in his expansive life. He will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, and devotion to family, along with an almost magical ability to make everyone around him smile, even when Alzheimer’s tried to make him forget. He was a loving partner to Gail, a proud father to David, John (Yuko), and Katie (Marshall Lichty), and an adoring grandfather to Louis and Raymond Fratzke (father Erik Fratzke) and Simon Buuck.
 

Bob's loving family will host a memorial on Sunday, March 16th. Find more information about the memorial here.

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In lieu of flowers, cards can be sent to The Buuck Family at PO Box 16001, St Paul, MN 55116.  Click the 'charity' tab to find links to a few of Bob's favorites non-profits and to make donations in his honor. 
 

We will miss you deeply, Boppa. Rest in peace.