Robert Dean Wismer

Robert Dean Wismer, 77, of Moline, died peacefully Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, at his home after a year-long battle with lung cancer. He was surrounded by his family.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 13, at Rafferty Funeral Home, 2111 1st Street A, Moline. Visitation will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Rafferty Funeral Home. Burial will be in Moline Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials can be made to either Genesis Hospice, memo line: Wismer Memorial Hospice. Genesis Foundation, 1227 East Rusholme St., Davenport, Iowa 52803, 563-421-6865 or Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association, PO Box 68003, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-8003.

Bob was born August 17, 1937 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, son of Amos Harold Wismer and Margery May (Hanawalt) Wismer. He married Eileen Anne O’Dell June 5, 1956.

Bob received engineering degrees from Penn State and Cornell Universities. He was an active member of several technical organizations including the Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and the International Society for Terrain Vehicle Systems, holding national and international offices in several.

Upon receiving his Master of Science in Engineering from Cornell University, he joined the US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg Mississippi as a research engineer, later joining Deere & Company as the leader of the new soil dynamics laboratory. At Deere he contributed to numerous new product development programs including the MaxEmerge Planter and Deere’s wheeled traction prediction equations. He continued to hold management positions of increasing engineering responsibility, retiring as Vice President of Engineering in 1999.

Bob was an avid vintage sports car racer. After years of family trips to Elkhart Lake’s Road America he started to race his own car in the 1980’s. Up until his final race in July 2013 he raced his Triumph TR3, Triumph TR4, Tornado Thunderbolt, Tornado Talisman and Lola S2000 race cars at almost every major road racing circuit east of the Mississippi. Some of his favorite tracks included Road America, Watkins Glen, and Sebring. He also served on the Board of Directors and as President of the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association (VSCDA).