Award Winning Combat Surgeon Bob Bilderback Dies at 85

Robert Douglas “Bob” Bilderback, M.D., a Vietnam veteran and orthopedic surgeon, passed away at home in Beardstown, Illinois, on March 10, 2023, at the age of 85.

He served orthopedic patients first at Robert Greene Memorial Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and then opened his own orthopedic surgery practice in San Antonio.

He earned his medical degree for the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Missouri, in 1963. He passed his Missouri Medical Boards in 1963 and then did a medical internship at the Mobile General Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, from July 1, 1963 to June 30, 1964.

After his internship, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves as a Commissioned Officer and served as a General Medical Officer. He initially served in Missouri while also practicing as a general practice physician at O.B. Barger, M.D., and Cass County Hospital, both in Harrisonville, Missouri.

He was called up to active duty on February 4, 1965, and within a month he became Chief of Preventative Medicine Division out of the USA Dispensary in Fort Bliss, Texas.

Bilderback served as a Battalion Surgeon for the HQ 6th Battalion 71st Artillery starting on August 13, 1965, and then he began his tour of duty in the Vietnam War as Battalion Surgeon/Staff Physician at the 12th U.S. Air Force Hospital, Cam Ranh Bay Air Base between September 19, 1965, and September 26, 1966.

For his service during this time, he received the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

He continued active military service until 1967, when he was honorably discharged. He stayed active in the reserves out of Fort Bliss until May 29, 1970.

After closing his San Antonio practice in 1987, he worked in medical research in St. Louis, Missouri, and in Galesburg and Bowen, Illinois.

Bilderback was born on December 29, 1937, to his parents, Sterling G. Bilderback and Margaret L. Bilderback Kilpatrick in Quincy, Illinois. He was one of three boys. He graduated from Bowen High School in Bowen, Illinois, where he was a basketball star.

After graduating in 1955, he earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Monmouth College. He was a member of the Gamma Alpha Graduate Scientific Society in 1959.

Bilderback was married twice. He and his first wife, Carol Prettyman, had one daughter together, Teresa Ann. He and his second wife, Graciela Dominguez, had three children together: Lisa Michelle, Robert Douglas, and John Nicholas.

He was a resident of Beardstown, Illinois, when he passed. He is survived by his brother, Roger Kent Bilderback; his daughter, Teresa Ann Bilderback; his daughter, Lisa Michelle Bilderback and granddaughter, Lisa Nicole; his son, Robert Douglas Bilderback II; and his son John Nicholas Bilderback. He also leaves behind his niece Sheri Bilderback. He was predeceased by his brother Marvin and his parents.