Dr. Robert Sampson

Dr. Robert Sampson, 87, of Hoffman, died Monday, May 25, at the Good Samaritan Society of Hoffman. Services for Dr. Sampson will be held at 2pm Saturday, May 30, at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Hoffman. Burial will be in the Bethel Cemetery, Hoffman. Family will greet friends on Friday from 4-8pm at the Funeral Home in Hoffman; visitation will resume at the church on Saturday one hour prior to the service. Robert was born at his grandparents' home by Christmas Lake near Excelsior in Carver County, Minnesota, on October 7, 1921. His parents were Richard H. Sampson and Irma (Nash) Sampson. The family lived for a short time in Isanti County and in Robbinsdale before moving to Northfield, Minnesota. He graduated from Northfield High School and took his pre-medical training at St. Olaf College. He graduated from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, Kirksville, Missouri, on September 9, 1944. During his 51 year career, he practiced medicine in Lamberton, Benson, and Hoffman, Minnesota. Robert married Lucille Pundmann in 1943; they later divorced. In 1962, he married Shirley Iverson of Revere, Minnesota. "Doc" was a devoted physician who loved the challenges of rural medicine and the patients he served. He was the Executive Director of the Minnesota Osteopathic Medical Society for many years. He took few vacations, preferring to spend his leisure time at his Elk Lake home fishing and boating. He was a talented musician who enjoyed entertaining family and friends with improvised arrangements on his Hammond organ. He was the choir director at Lands Lutheran Church and later at Messiah Lutheran Church for several years, as well as a member of the Grant County Barbershop Chorus. He was also a private pilot and served as a captain in the Civil Air Patrol in the early 1960's. Robert is survived by his wife of 46 years, Shirley, and his four children, Bruce (Adrianne) Sampson of Shoreview, Rebecca (Michael) Shannon of St. Charles, Missouri, Dr. Richard (Jody) Sampson of Cumberland, Wisconsin, and Lora (David) Tverberg of Owatonna; ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; and his sister Mavis Larkin of Northfield. He was preceded in death by his parents. Memorials are preferred to the Minnesota Society for the Blind, Grant County Foodshelf, the Hoffman Senior Citizens, or the Messiah Lutheran Church.

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