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Robert D Cleary, ’64 DVM

Robert D Cleary, ’64 DVM, Menomenie, Wis., died April 2 at 79. Cleary served as Captain in the US Army Veterinary Corps from 1964 to 1966. He was based at Fort Dix, N.J., caring for military dogs and overseeing food safety for troops serving in Vietnam. Following his military service, Cleary briefly practiced veterinary medicine in Eden, Wis. He and his family soon relocated to Menomonie, Wis., where he helped establish the Hoof and Paw Clinic and practiced mixed animal medicine. Cleary was an active member of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (AVMA), the Wisconsin Veterinary Medicine Association, and the Bovine Practitioners Association. He also served as both president and secretary of the Northwestern Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association. Injuries forced him to leave active veterinary practice in 1999, but he continued to apply his professional expertise to volunteer veterinary endeavors around the globe throughout the early 2000s. In 2000, he served in the US Peace Corps as an animal production specialist in the mountainous regions of Cajabamba, Ecuador. Between 2001 and 2002, he worked as a volunteer agent of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), assisting the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to combat a foot-and-mouth outbreak in England. He later acted as a USDA agent in California, combatting an avian flu outbreak. And finally, assisted the AVMA providing veterinary services to farmers in rural Nicaragua. He also acted as a Spanish interpreter for dairy farmers across Dunn County, Wis., providing both farmers and their Spanish-speaking help critical language support, helping to train incoming farm workers in dairy farm operations. Bob is survived by his wife, Kitz Nierengarten Cleary; 2 children; and 3 grandchildren.

Robert D Cleary, ’64 DVM