Robert L. Schirmer – passed away on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at Senior Star at Weber Place in Romeoville, Illinois at the age of 95. Bob was born on October 5, 1925 in East St. Louis, Illinois to Elmer and Gertrude (nee Rapp) Schirmer. He grew up in Freeport, Illinois, attending Immanuel Lutheran Grade School and Freeport High School. Before graduating from Valparaiso University in 1950, Bob served in WWII on the U.S navy troop-carrying ship in the Pacific from 1944 to May 1946. He married Rhoda Wetzel in Rock Island, Illinois on July 3, 1949. They moved to Jacksonville, Illinois in 1951 where Bob worked and traveled for the Freeport Insurance Company, and took part in Jacksonville's active Jaycees Club. In 1960 he moved his young family to Joliet, Illinois where he bought the Howard Insurance Agency, which he operated until 1990, and the merged it with the Clarence Olin Agency, where he worked until his retirement on October 1, 2000. He was active in local and state insurance associations. He and Rhoda were married for 71 years and 58 of them were spent in Joliet where they raised their seven children. Robert was an active member of St. Peter Lutheran Church, serving as an elder, on the Church Council, and as president for five years. A sports enthusiast, Bob played handball and traveled for tournaments, took up skiing at age 45, making annual trips to the Rockies or Alps. He also enjoyed golf and bowling, and summer visits to the family cottage in Wisconsin included long days of swimming and water skiing with the family. Robert was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Elmer Jr., and survived by his wife Rhoda and seven children, Sharon (Jim) Weakman of Aurora, IL, Robin Schirmer (John Bouman) of Maywood, IL, Melanie Knutsen of Washington, D.C., John (Maria) Schirmer of Taichung, Taiwan, Jim Schirmer of El Segundo, CA, Amy Schirmer (Ian Rossbridge) of Gainsville, FL, Carol (John) Rich of Wausau, WI., 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. A memorial service and inurnment at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations to St. Peters Lutheran Church of Joliet Area Community Hospice will be appreciated.