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On September 2, 2015, Bob had an unexpected, rare medical incident. All of a sudden, while routinely walking across the room at his daughter’s apartment (he was there alone working on a surprise project), Bob recalls that the “floor began moving like a roller coaster at Six Flags.” In addition, he became extremely dizzy, began sweating profusely, started losing his vision, and lost all sense of depth perception. He was able to get seated and tried to dial 911 on his phone, but he was unable to see the digits on his phone to do so. Then, just before he lost consciousness, he remembers thinking, “I’m going to die here and no one even knows where I am.”

He regained consciousness about 15 minutes later and realized, “not only was I alive, but my vision had partially returned!” After calling his wife and getting picked up and making contact with his physician, it was thought that the event and continuing issues were the result of an allergic reaction to medication. It was believed that once the medication worked its way through Bob’s system that the symptoms would go away. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and the journey to finding answers was just beginning.

At this point, Bob was relegated to a wheelchair, was unable to see clearly, had no sense of balance, lost any sense of depth perception, experienced dizziness any time he tried to stand, and consistently had very painful headaches. He was obviously unable to work. He and his wife, Marna, ended up having to sell their home, their cars, and almost everything they had to be able to seek and pay for treatment. This also necessitated them moving to an apartment in downtown St Paul, MN. After seeing 13 various medical specialists over the next 18 months, Bob was still left with only theories and guesses as to what was wrong. Frustration, disappointment, and desperation became all-too, recurrent feelings. At the same time, other challenges and losses added to Bob and Marna's overall stress.

Coinciding with the timeframe of Bob's illness and subsequent search for answers, Marna's mom took a fall and broke her hip and needed to have surgery.  Although the surgery was a "success," tragically, Marna's mom developed complications and passed away several weeks later. In addition, fighting their way through the myriad of medical bills, various insurance processes, and overwhelming governmental bureaucracy became a daily activity of living. In the midst of this storm, another one-two punch came: Marna lost her job and then her father passed away unexpectedly! The hits just continued to come! Thankfully, they had their faith in and relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and to this day they state with bold confidence and overwhelming gratitude that, "the only way we survived the most dire of circumstances was through our faith in Christ." His overwhelming, amazing, and consistent provision at just the right times and in just the right ways throughout our journey was incredible and humbling."

Finally, after 18 months of trying 13 different physicians and enduring countless more tests of all kinds, Bob was able to be seen by the experts at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. This was made possible by the relentless effort and incredible persistence of Bob's primary care physician. She would not accept "no" or "nothing's wrong" in her quest to get an answers to Bob's condition, and she persevered until her efforts were rewarded with an appointment for Bob with the balance and dizziness disorder experts at the Mayo Clinic. After a week long-visit to the Mayo and Bob surviving another gauntlet of tests and examinations, the team of care professionals were able to diagnose his condition and develop a treatment plan!

 The problem turned out to be a somewhat rare and complex condition which was impacting the neurotransmitters in Bob's brain, which resulted from an allergic reaction to a medication combined with an unknown, underlying virus. While the doctors explained that there was no ultimate "cure," they were optimistic, overall, as there were treatment options that had been shown to be effective in improving the symptoms for 80% of those with this condition.  Although the news was not great in terms of an ideal outcome, the relief that both Bob and Marna felt from actually knowing what was wrong, having an actual diagnosis, and realizing things were very likely going to get better, was not only a huge relief, but a blessing beyond measure! The pent up anxiety and emotions tied with previously "not knowing" came forth in waves of weeping and tears of joy. The Chairman of the program at the Mayo Clinic and head of Bob's medical team indicated that Bob & Marna's reaction was not uncommon. He said that most of his patients have endured so many tests, been misdiagnosed, put through uncomfortable and often painful useless tests, and unfruitful doctor's appointments, that answers or news of any kind is welcome relief.    

From this point froward (2018) until now, Bob's condition has improved in several areas, and in others, not. He continues to pursue treatment options and is compliant with all of his care team's recommendations. Nonetheless, he has come to realize that his current "state" or condition is more than likely the new "norm," and he is at peace with it. When asked about his condition, he frequently responds, "I have been so blessed in how the Lord has been by my side throughout this journey in clear-cut ways that defy any natural explanation (he has journaled over 30 of such instances), that I know without a doubt that He is real! "Things that have happened and the way they are now, are exactly the way they needed to be for me to fulfill God's purposes for my life." 

Shortly after the diagnosis, in the middle of the storm, Bob felt the Lord's calling to attend seminary! At first he felt the feeling may have been from bad pizza from the night before, 😁 rather than the the Holy Spirit at work; but, after diligent prayer and discussion with key accountability partners in his life, he discerned that the "nudging" in direction he was feeling was indeed from the Holy Spirit. 

When Bob went to apply to the seminary at the University of Northwestern, he expected that his discussion and interview with the admission's personnel would be a short one, given his relevant learning challenges (e.g., inability to view and focus on computer screens, read text for more than a few minutes without headaches occurring, and physically focus his vision to type or write papers).  Thankfully, technology had significantly changed in the academic learning environment over the past couple of decades! The university was able to get all of his textbooks in audio form, taught him how to effectively use voice recognition software to compose papers, and provided access to the writing center on campus to help with proof-reading his papers for spelling errors (in cases resulting from his inability to visually distinguish between certain similar looking type-written letters/fonts).

Three years, countless hours, and numerous symptom-related challenges later, not only was Bob able to graduate with his Master's Degree in Theological Studies, but did so while finishing at the top of his class! It was an incredible experience for him and another opportunity in which he was able to experience the Lord working through his circumstances to impact others. Having the benefit of hindsight, Bob is keenly aware of the fact that those impacts would have never occurred had the events of the prior six years not taken place. He continues to express his heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all of the staff at UNW that helped to make his journey through seminary successful.

From 2013 until the above illness occurred, Bob served as Senior Vice President and Business Consultant for Wells Fargo (formerly GE Capital America). Bob would share Wells Fargo’s best practices and industry insights with the company’s clients via one-on-one engagements, special events, and webinars. Bob’s primary focus and responsibility was in working with Wells Fargo’s strategic national relationships (Fortune 500) within the Vendor Finance Business.  Key areas of domain expertise included: strategic planning, customer relationship centricity, business development, operational effectiveness, Socratic selling, sales force optimization, process improvement, and intergenerational dynamics in the workplace.

From 2011 to 2013, Bob served as Senior Vice President of Business development in the Equipment Finance Business within the Commercial Division. His responsibilities included building and leading a start-up business with functional responsibilities including sales, business development, sales force effectiveness, organizational design, staff development, and performance management. He was also the Senior Operations Leader for GE Money Credit Services for North America with responsibility for multiple sites across the US and Canada. He designed the majority of curriculum for staff development and training and was formally recognized for his leadership skills and ability to successfully turnaround failing or stagnant business units, while simultaneously improving the overall customer experience (NPS).  Not only does Bob have over 30 years of experience in the financial services field, but he also has a breadth of experience across a number of industries including: technology, construction, power equipment, marine, recreational vehicles, health and wellness, and transportation. 

Bob joined GE Capital in 2005 as the Operations Leader for the Marine/RV Division where he developed innovative approaches to sales, customer service, underwriting and team building, which led to top tier results while instilling a customer centric and team- oriented culture.

Prior to GE, Bob had a 17-year career at KeyBank in which he progressed through various executive positions of increasing responsibility across both the retail and commercial divisions, with portfolio responsibilities in excess of $5 billion dollars and annual budgets in excess of $500 million. Some of the roles he occupied included Senior Vice President of National Sales, Vice President of Risk and Underwriting, Vice President for Retail Banking, and Vice President of Dealer Banking.

In his 13+ years with GE Capital, Bob completed several of GE’s executive leadership, sales, operational and risk programs, including numerous courses at GE’s prestigious Management Development Institute, "Crotonville," located in Ossining, NY. He applies that knowledge and expertise to his current role in both helping pastors improve their results in a variety of day-to-day functional areas of responsibility, and their overall quality of life in leading their respective churches. 

Bob is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, Socratic Selling Instructor, and Certified HealthAhead Leader. He also served as a motivational speaker both inside and outside of the company. He earned his BA in Economics and a BBA in Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He earned his Master’s Degree in Theological Studies from the University of Northwestern, Saint Paul, MN, where he graduated at the top of his class.

Bob lives in the incredible mountains of Southern Colorado with his wife, Marna, of 35+ years. He has his two daughters, one of which is an elementary school, special education teacher in Saint Paul, MN, and the other, a physician, in her second year of residency at a regional medical center in Corinth, MS. Bob enjoys community-based projects, teaching, volunteering, mentoring young professionals, sports, the outdoors, and traveling.