Robert (Bob) H. Carman passed away at Walker Methodist Place in Minneapolis,MN on August 10, 2024, at the age of 92. He was born on December 27, 1931, in Hanamkonda, AP, South India, the second of six children born to Dr. John S. and Naomi (Hull) Carman, American Baptist missionaries to India.

Bob grew up as a missionary kid in India and wrote about his earliest memories from 1935-42: “From January to October each year I was in school in Kodaikanal, several hundred miles from home, and in Hanamkonda during the cool season. Our home was indeed a Christian home, one in which we all felt of our God above and the love we had for each other. The long separations were made easier for us children, not only because we liked Kodai so much, but also because our parents had been able to make us feel a real part of their life and commitment and work, as if we too were involved. Our family sings, prayer circles, daily devotions and singing graces at meals meant much. My playmates were almost all Indians. Skin color made little differences, nor did language, as I became fluent again each vacation in Telugu.”

In 1942 the family sailed to the United States going around South Africa because the war had closed the Mediterranean. For two years the family lived in Rochester, New York and attended the Lake Avenue Baptist Church. It was there that Bob made the decision to commit his life to Christ and be baptized. In 1944, Bob’s father returned to India and the rest of the family moved to Mt. Kisco, New York where they lived with relatives. In 1945, when Bob had completed 9th grade, the family, except for his older brother John, who stayed in the United States, went back to India to rejoin their father. They then moved to Vellore, TN, India.

Bob was a high school student and very interested in understanding Indian history. Bob was there to help celebrate independence on August 15, 1947. Bob wrote: “I was there and felt with all Indians the loss of Gandhi on January 30, 1948, after one of the greatest periods of communal strife and massacre the world has seen. I learned and understood more about the Christian mission movement in India and around the world, I saw the great work at Vellore and came to know “Aunt Ida” Scudder. I saw missionaries of many different denominations and nationalities working together at Vellore with Indian colleagues in common cause for Christ. I saw the birth of the Church of South India.”

Following graduation from Kodaikanal School Bob returned to the United States and entered college at Bucknell University in PA as a premedical student. Bob received a BS from Bucknell University, earned his MD at the University of Rochester (NY) School of Medicine and Dentistry and completed his residency in Pathology at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

In the third year of college Bob had become better acquainted with Lucile Swetland, who at the time was serving with him as co-vice-president of the Christian Association on campus. She shared a desire to seek a place of service for the Lord. Their friendship deepened and they were married on August 30, 1953.

Bob and Lu were appointed by the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society (ABFMS) / International Ministries (IM) as missionaries on May 10, 1963. They served in South India where Bob was assigned to the faculty of the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore. Bob and Lu served for 31 years as American Baptist missionaries assigned to the faculty of the Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, TN, India.

Starting as the head of the Blood Bank and the department of Clinical Pathology, Bob rose to the position of Associate Director for CMC Hospital Vellore. In addition to his management roles at CMC&H, he also served on the governing council of Kodaikanal International School, TN, India during its significant change from a boarding school for missionary kids to an international school. After retirement from CMC Vellore, Bob worked for a few years with the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) as convener/secretary of the Laboratory Training Committee revising the CMAI’s Lab Handbook and as Lab Consultant at the Bangalore Baptist Hospital. He then became Executive Director of the Vellore CMC Foundation in NYC for several years. An obituary written by the current Director of CMC was published in their weekly newsletter of August 12, 2024, on pages 9-11. It details a fuller description of Bob’s contributions to CMC. https://www.cmch-vellore.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2024/08/cmc-weekly-news-12-08-2024.pdf

Bob was a much respected and loved colleague; a kind, courteous, and just administrator; an engaging teacher; and a source of wisdom and comfort to those with whom he worked and served. Bob shared his love of music and its essential place in worship via his solo and choral singing and as a choir director. He had an incredible memory of people, places and dates. He was a loving and supportive husband and father; a rock in the tempests of life.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Lucile (Swetland) Carman, his brother Bruce Carman, his sister Eleanor McDonald, and by two of his children: Jim Carman and Paul Carman.

He is survived by his older brother John (Ann) Carman, his youngest sister Margaret (Ed) Tegenfeldt, his sisters-inlaw Alice Keighton and Donna Carman, his son Chuck (Susy) Carman and daughter Betsy (David) Perkins, daughterin-law Karen Fassett-Carman, eight grandchildren and their spouses/partners, and six great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held at 11:00 AM on September 28, 2024, at University Baptist Church in Minneapolis, MN where Bob and Lu were active members for many years. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Vellore Christian Medical College Foundation, at P.O. Box 22423, New York, NY 10087-2423 or at vellorecmc.org/donate.