Lasting Memories

Robert B. Constantz
1923-Aug. 4, 2009
Palo Alto, California

Dr. Robert B. Constantz Sr. died Aug. 4 at age 86.

Dr. Constantz practiced medicine with Kaiser Permanente for 45 years. He first joined the Maple Street Kaiser Clinic in Redwood City in 1954. The group later expanded and built Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Veterans Boulevard, where Dr. Constantz, at one time, served as president of staff. He retired at the age of 67.

Born in Canton, Missouri, Dr. Constantz grew up south of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, living a childhood reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, say family members.

He was an excellent basketball player in high school, and played saxophone with a band he put together as a teenager, they say. He worked on a river boat on the Mississippi River the summer after high school, and attended Culver-Stockton College.

He graduated from medical school at the University of Louisville and received internship training at New York University General Hospital in general medicine. He completed residencies in pathology and internal medicine, and a fellowship in cardiology.

During World War II, he served as a U.S. captain in Germany during the final winter push against Hitler, having to perform hundreds of frost-bite amputations in field hospitals, say family members. During the post-war occupation of Germany, he and his wife, Kate, and two young sons, Robert Jr. and James, lived in Augsburg, Germany, where he played a role in reconstructing the hospitals in the region.

In 1954 Dr. Constantz left the Army as a colonel and the family returned to civilian life on the Peninsula. They built one of the original homes on La Mesa Drive in Ladera, where their sons Mark and Brent were born. They moved to Alpine Hills in 1966. Dr. Constantz and his wife, Kate Constantz, moved to the Hyatt Classic Residence in Palo Alto in 2006.

Dr. Constantz is survived by his four sons, Dr. Robert B. Constantz of San Carlos, James E. Constantz of Portola Valley, Mark Q. Constantz of Mountain View, and Brent R. Constantz of Portola Valley; a sister, Ann Constantz English of Dallas, Texas; and 11 grandchildren. His wife, Kate, grandson, Ryan, and daughter-in-law Caroline preceded him in death.