- Date Of Birth: May 3, 1933
- Date Of Death: December 1, 2018
- State: Colorado
A Denver Physician and Community Leader.
Dr. Robert Bruce Sawyer of Denver passed away peacefully on December 1, 2018, after an extended illness. He was 85.
The son of prominent Denver surgeon Kenneth Charles Sawyer and Elizabeth McAndrew Sawyer, Bob (aka “Dr. Bob,” or simply “DB” to many) was born during the Great Depression on May 3, 1933 and was raised in Denver. He attended Graland Country Day School, Morey Junior High, Denver East High School, the University of Colorado/Boulder, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He was a Captain in the Colorado Army National Guard and served in the U.S. Army Surgical Research Unit at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas, during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A top student at East High, Bob was active in many sports and clubs, playing on the school’s State Championship football team in 1951 under legendary coach Pat Panek, and competing every year in the State wrestling tournament. While attending CU/Boulder, he played Varsity football under coach Dal Ward until an injury curtailed his athletic career, yet he remained a lifelong supporter of the University. He was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, where he roomed with future Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert, and was a loyal member of the CU Buff Club (the guy just loved “Ralphie”). In 1976, Bob ran for an at-large seat on the CU Board of Regents, believing the CU Medical School deserved more of a voice in University decisions.
