For Bob – WEGO Health

Robert, always Bob, DeMarco passed absent not too long ago – and we have all dropped a correct affected person leader, a tireless advocate, researcher, and supporter for Alzheimer’s caregivers, a gifted writer, and an inexhaustible speaker.

Bob under no circumstances sought awards or recognition for his Alzheimer’s operate, but his legions of followers produced sure his perseverance and considerably-achieving affect ended up observed. He gained numerous WEGO Health Awards with his Alzheimer’s Looking through Room blog, Fb web page, and e mail group. Purely by word of mouth and the electrical power of his extraordinary information, he introduced hope, light and a trove of simple guidance to tens of millions.

I am one of the luckiest of the thousands and thousands – Bob lived in my hometown of Delray Beach, Florida. He moved to Delray Seashore in 2003, leaving behind a powerhouse fiscal services career to become Alzheimer’s caregiver for his mom Dottie. I satisfied him right after Dottie experienced handed, but he was still fiercely devoted to the Alzheimer’s neighborhood, and I questioned him to have a beer with me.

That first beer with each other lasted 3 several hours. Bob’s relentless curiosity and power have been infectious – our extended talks ricocheted from lookup engine science to Delray politics to Alzheimer’s investigation and scientific trials to his job in New York. That 1st time and each and every time right after, we would discuss about Dottie as well how he had found so lots of ways to fully grasp “Dottie’s World” as he termed it, and to make her life
with Alzheimer’s not just secure but fulfilling and content and exciting.

Bob passed that knowledge, that irreplaceable appreciate, and tricky-won expertise, alongside to all people experiencing Alzheimer’s and to these of us at Overall health Union WEGO who had the opportunity to know him individually.

I spoke to him just a day right before he passed, and his only regret was that he hadn’t finished more than enough – that if he’d accomplished additional to combat his most cancers, he could have completed more for us all. We talked about that, and I did the finest I could to convey to him that Bob’s Globe seriously had made the planet a improved location.

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Bob was a phenomenal Alzheimer’s patient chief and a collaborative member of (legacy) WEGO Health and fitness. The winner of the 2016 WEGO Wellness Awards Best In Show: Weblog, Bob held webinars and stay functions for individual leaders to master from his affected person leader knowledge. You can watch 1 of his earlier webinars in this article.