1998 Annual Report

Marjorie and Bob Lindee

When one talks with Marjorie Lindee of Los Altos, it doesn't take much to turn the conversation toward her late husband Robert G. Lindee--known almost universally as Bob--and his distinguished career in medicine and philanthropy. He was known for his quiet wisdom, thoughtfulness and ability to "get things done," qualities that were trademarks of a career that spanned more than 30 years at some of the top medical and philanthropic institutions in the country.

Today, Marjorie's thoughts are toward the future, and the family's plans to endow a complete research laboratory in Bob's memory after PAMF's Research Institute moves to the new campus this fall.

Lindee left his footprints at the University of Colorado, Harvard University, Stanford University, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, and--or the last five years of his life--as Director of Administration at PAMF's Research Institute. Unlike many contemporaries, Lindee preferred to work behind the scenes, quietly but effectively.

"Bob was very self-effacing, in a way that wasn't offensive," Marjorie, his wife of nearly 40 years, recalls of his personal style. "He never promoted or bragged on himself. I remember when Bob Glaser (PAMF Trustee Robert J. Glaser, M.D., Lindee's friend and colleague of 30 years) spoke at his funeral, a lot of people who had known him for a long time had no idea of the things Bob had done or the scope of his accomplishments--because Bob never talked about himself."

Lindee was born and raised in Denver, and graduated from the University of Colorado. He and Marjorie went to the same high school, but didn't meet until years later at a church function. He was working for the state employment office; she was a health insurance underwriter. They dated for almost two years before Lindee proposed marriage.

"Bob was the kind of person who wouldn't get married until he not only had a job, but the kind of job where he could see a good future to support a wife the way he felt he should," she says. "He had a tremendous sense of conscience and responsibility." They were married within two months of his being hired as assistant director of personnel at the University of Colorado.

Lindee was offered a promotion soon after Dr. Glaser arrived as the new dean. "People kept telling Dr. Glaser about Bob," Marjorie recalls. "There was no such thing in those days as an associate dean. Dr. Glaser realized that he needed some administrative help, and everybody he talked to said, 'If you want to get something done, see Bob Lindee.' ...[He] soon realized that this was true...and asked him if he would join him as associate dean."

Typically, Lindee suggested the new dean consider someone with more training, but Dr. Glaser ignored his advice and hired him anyway. It was the beginning of a collaboration of nearly 30 years that took the two men from Colorado to Harvard, Stanford and the Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park.

"Bob was a pretty remarkable guy," Dr. Glaser says. "He had keen judgment and a very broad understanding of medicine. He also had a great knack for relating to people. He was a sensitive and effective administrator. He had everyone's respect."

Lindee was one of the first associate deans in the country. He was a combination government lobbyist, fundraiser, grant writer, human resources director, business manager, facilities coordinator and problem solver. He also helped young people get started in medicine.

"Bob encouraged a lot of young people to go into medicine and helped them get into medical school, particularly a number of Stanford athletes," Marjorie says. "That was something Bob enjoyed doing and was very proud of."

Lindee died in March 1988 after a two-year bout with cancer. He originally contracted the disease and had surgery in early 1986, but the cancer recurred 18 months late--shortly before the wedding of his daughter, Anne--and soon spread to his brain.

"Bob took a turn for the worse on Christmas Day," Marjorie remembers. "We finally got him to go into the hospital the next day. He was trying not to disrupt people's Christmas. That's the way he was. He never wanted to cause other people unhappiness or trouble. The same thing had happened at Anne's wedding. The cancer had returned, but he didn't tell me, because he didn't want to cast any shadows over her wedding. She was so grateful that he was able to give her away."

The Lindees had three children: Grant, a diagnostic radiologist in Santa Rosa; Mark, an investment banker in Los Angeles; and Anne, an accomplished golfer and merchandising director at Cinnabar Hills Golf Course in San Jose, where her husband, Scott Hoyt, is the general manager. (There are now seven grandchildren, including Grant's son, Robert G. Lindee II).

Marjorie was deeply involved in raising their children: "One year I was on three different PTA--boards because each kid was in a different school," she recalls. She also has been a member of the PAMF Women's Auxiliary. At Stanford, she was active with medical wives and faculty wives groups, and was involved in golfing organizations. In her quiet Los Altos home, she displays a still-growing collection of plates that started with Swedish Christmas plates collected by Bob's mother, with some Norwegian plates added from her own ancestry.

The three Lindee children are joining with their mother to endow the laboratory in Bob's name at the Research Institute.

"I thought it would be a nice memorial to Bob," Marjorie says. "I think he'd be very pleased about it, and happy that we wanted to do it. The kids were all in favor of doing something. I remember Mark said, 'I don't want it just to be some broom closet. Let's do something that has some significance.' So we decided that, although it would stretch us, the laboratory would be the most meaningful. Bob was very happy at the Institute. He would have happily gone on forever in that job.

"There are only going to be 16 laboratories in the new building, and as I understand it each one has almost equal prominence. Bob's lab will focus on cancer and immunology.

"There will be a plaque above the door that will say the lab is in memory of Bob Lindee, and then it will list each of the kids by name. That's the way he'd want it. More than anything, Bob was proudest of his children. "