Bob graduated from Tomah High School (WI) in 1954. He had a short stint in the Wisconsin Army National Guard before becoming active duty in the U.S. Air Force (stationing in the Philippines and then Japan) and afterwards joining the U.S. Air Force Reserves. After his initial military service, Bob earned his B.A. in languages (Japanese/Spanish) at the University of Minnesota (U of M). After his undergraduate studies, he spent a year in Cali, Columbia, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and Bookkeeping while honing his Spanish. A lover of languages, Bob returned to the U of M to pursue a doctorate, where he met his beloved German bride and ultimately earned his M.A. in Spanish/Linguistics.

Bob (“Professor Dahl”) was passionate about instructional systems design (curriculum development and assessment) and taught language courses at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN; Concordia College in Moorhead, MN; and the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. His civil service teaching career kicked off in 1969 when he taught at Air University’s (then) Foreign Officers School on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, AL. While teaching at Foreign Officers School, Bob went back into reserve service for a year with the Alabama Air National Guard. He continued with curriculum development, instruction, and desktop publishing with Civil Air Patrol and then Air University’s Air War College. Along the way, Bob received an M.S. in Adult Education and Ed.S. in General Educational Administration from Troy University. Bob retired from civil service in 1994 but continued to work in the educational field for several more years teaching English and Spanish both privately and for local continuing education programs.

Bob loved flying airplanes as a teenager and learning and teaching foreign languages throughout his adult life. His love for dad jokes, cats, family, and food endeared him to everyone who met him. Bob enjoyed 54 years of marriage. His wife, three children, son-in-law, grandson, granddaughter-in-law, and great granddaughters were the light of his life. Forever with a friendly smile on his face, Bobbie/Bob/Dad/Opa will be dearly missed.