Robert “Bob” Lee Kauffman, 92, died Sept. 11, 2024. He was born March 25, 1932, in Middlebury, Ind., the second of five children of Rollo and Mary Kauffman.

Upon graduating from high school, Bob’s father put him in charge of the family’s propane business for two-and-a-half years. In 1953, he chose alternative service and worked as a custodian at Indianapolis Methodist Hospital. In the hospital elevator, Bob noticed “Mary” on the name tag of a certain student nurse. Two years later, Bob and Mary were married and moved to Bluffton, Ohio, after he had completed one semester at Bluffton College and she had graduated from nursing school.

In 1958, Bob began his accounting career at Mennonite Hospital in Bloomington, Ill. Over 20 years, he worked his way up to vice president of finance. Mary and Bob also started their family in 1958, eventually raising two girls and two boys.

In 1979, Bob and Mary were called to serve with the Mennonite Church in Taipei, Taiwan.  They lived there for three-and-a-half years. Both boys went along and attended Taipei American School. Upon returning to Bloomington in 1983, Bob worked as a fiscal analyst at BroMenn Healthcare in Normal, Ill., until retirement in 1997.

He is survived by his wife, Mary; his children, Susan Kauffman, Laurie (David) Yost, Jim (Alma) Kauffman and Tim (Tran) Kauffman; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.  He will be missed greatly by his family as well as his friends at the Mennonite Church of Normal, where was a faithful member for more than 60 years.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family requests donations be made to the Mennonite Church of Normal (normalmennonite.org) or Mennonite Central Committee (mcc.org).