Robert Samuel “Bob” Miser Jr. was born in Baltimore, MD and raised on Blythewood Road in the historic Roland Park neighborhood. He was the son of Robert S. Miser Sr., an insurance salesman, and Lucille Sudler Miser, a homemaker.
Bob graduated from City College High School in Baltimore and was the quarterback on the varsity football team, as well as the leading scorer on the varsity lacrosse team. Bob was awarded All-State status for lacrosse while at City. After graduating from high school in 1956, Bob received an appointment to West Point with the Class of 1960.
Bob’s primary interest at West Point was lacrosse, where he excelled. During his years at West Point, Bob earned first team All-American honors in 1959 and 1960 and was a second team All-American in 1958. He was a member of Army’s national championship team in 1958 and its tri-championship team in 1959.
Bob was captain of the 1960 Army team, the same year he was named winner of the Jack Turnbull Award, presented to the nation’s top attackman. When Bob graduated in 1960, he was Army’s all-time leading scorer with 135 points, the program leader in assists with 64, and second all-time with 71 goals. He also represented Army in the 1960 North-South Collegiate All-Star Game.
In 1980, Bob was inducted into the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Sports Hall of Fame. The Association stated at the time that induction into its Hall of Fame was for honorees who, by their deeds as players and coaches and by the example of their lives, personify the great contribution of lacrosse to the country’s way of life. At his induction ceremony, he stated that his years at West Point were among the happiest times of his life. Bob was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. Although Bob’s athletic focus was on lacrosse, he found time to quarterback Company A-l’s intramural football team to the Brigade Championship.
After graduating in 1960, he was commissioned an officer in the Army and served in Germany with an Army air defense unit. He was discharged in 1965 at the rank of captain. Bob returned to Baltimore and resumed playing lacrosse for the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club from 1964 to 1968. After playing with the Mount Washington Club, he became the offensive coach in 1972 and 1973. He was also the club All-Star from 1966 to 1968 and was awarded the Mount Washington Cup in 1968. In 1967, he was a member of the USA Lacrosse Team that beat Canada in the World Games.
While living in Baltimore after the Army, Bob was a partner in Weber-Miser Associates Inc. He and his partner, Edward Weber, developed land and housing in and around the Baltimore area and southern Pennsylvania.
Bob served on the Board of Directors for the Lacrosse Foundation, a forerunner of today’s US Lacrosse, from 1974 to 1976 and again from 1984 to 1989, and he was foundation president from 1988 to 1989. According to Steve Stenerson, President of US Lacrosse, “Bob was passionate about building an organization that could provide leadership and resources focused on the sport’s growth and development, but he cared more about the process and the people involved than the outcome. His example of selfless leadership continues to be an inspiration to me.”
In Bob’s later years, he was especially fond of watching lacrosse in the Baltimore area, bike riding, bee keeping, and bay crabs, but, most importantly, he enjoyed associating with those whom he described as “the really nice people in the area.” Bob was an avid tennis player as well as an enthusiastic sailor, exploring the Chesapeake Bay on his day sailboat. He was a member of the Roland Park Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, where a memorial service was held on February 16, 2019.
Bob’s first marriage to Diane Baublitz ended in divorce. His second wife, Diane A. Miser, passed away in 1990. He is survived by his wife Jeannie Downs Pohlhaus-Miser, his daughters Kimberly Yost and Brittish Miser, his stepdaughter Nicole C. Ready, his stepson Mathew Cremen, and eight grandchildren.
Well Done, Bob. Be Thou at Peace.