Obituary: Hudson’s Bob Setzer had a ‘lifelong commitment to saving the environment’

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

A few months before it opened, Bob Setzer got a sneak peek at the nature center he helped create.

Setzer, a longtime board member of the Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center, toured its new $4 million interpretive center in Hudson, Wis., while it was under construction in March. The center opened to the public in July.

“He was using a walker by then, but we were able to make it out,” said his daughter Betsy Olson. “He was just thrilled to be a part of the Wisconsin campus. He was so happy that this part of his legacy will live on.”

Setzer, of Hudson, died Thursday of natural causes at the Prescott Nursing and Rehabilitation Community in Prescott, Wis. He was 93.

Setzer, who lived less than a quarter-mile from Carpenter, was one of the nature center’s biggest boosters, said Jennifer Vieth, Carpenter’s executive director. He and his yellow Labrador, Finlay, would regularly hike through the miles of prairie on the property.

“As soon as anyone moved to the neighborhood, Bob would come out and greet them and make them feel welcome and then immediately tell them about Carpenter,” Vieth said. “It’s that human connection that makes life so rich, and Bob was a master of inspiring that connection.”

Setzer served on the board from 2001 to 2010 and then became an honorary board member, she said.

Setzer grew up in St. Paul, graduated from University High School in St. Paul in 1947 and then served as a U.S. Navy Reservist. He continued his education at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, where he studied for five years, graduating first in his class in 1952.

SETZER PHARMACY

He and his brother, George, who also graduated from the College of Pharmacy, worked as pharmacists and then opened their own pharmacy in 1956 at 1635 Rice St. in St. Paul. In 1966, they moved Setzer Pharmacy to 1685 Rice St. in Roseville.

Setzer Pharmacy prided itself on its customer service. Customer photos and names were posted in the back, so pharmacists could greet everyone by name.

“There were no strangers to him,” Betsy Olson said. “He really liked talking to and getting to know his customers and forming a bond with them and getting them to trust him.”

Said son-in-law Bruce Olson: “He was the quintessential neighborhood pharmacist. He knew everybody by name, and everybody was his friend.”

Setzer Pharmacy became a professional teaching pharmacy through the U of M’s School of Pharmacy, and hundreds of students trained and rotated through the business.

Setzer sold the business in 1992. The following year, he received the State of Minnesota Pharmacist of the Year Award.

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Bob Setzer met Kathy Comfort, of St. Paul, on a blind date set up by a family friend, Olson said. The two married in 1954 in St. Paul. “She loved the outdoors and was very adventurous, as was my dad,” she said.

The couple, who had three daughters, moved from Roseville to the St. Croix Cove housing development on the St. Croix River south of Hudson in the mid-1960s.

“He just loved everything about the St. Croix – from being out on the water to being in nature,” Bruce Olson said. “They had a nice west-facing lot, and he loved the sunsets. It was a longer commute into St. Paul, but, as he always said, it was worth every second of it.”

AN AVID OUTDOORSMAN

Setzer would spend as much time as he could out on the water – boating, waterskiing, sailing, canoeing, fishing and jet-skiing, said Betsy Olson, who lives in Mequon, Wis.

“He was one of those dads who would always rush home from work to take the kids for one more water-ski pull or one more boat trip or one more sailboat ride,” she said. “He was happiest when he was on the water surrounded by kids.”

Carol Falkowski, of Mahtomedi, grew up spending summers next door to the Setzer family.

Falkowski, the former director of the alcohol- and drug-abuse division at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, said Setzer will be remembered for “his unconditional kindness, persistent upbeat attitude and lifelong commitment to saving the environment.

“He wanted to leave the world a better place than when he found it. He was beloved by his employees. He was beloved and remembered by people who met him, even if they didn’t know him that well.”

One of Setzer’s favorite walks – the Big Bluestem Trail at Carpenter – will receive new signage soon. It will “affectionately be known as BobKat Trail in honor of Bob and his wife, Kathy,” Vieth said.

Setzer is survived by his wife; three daughters, Betsy Olson, Robin Friedlander and Jenny Bowman; seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service to celebrate Setzer’s life will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 9 at the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, with visitation one hour prior to the service.

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