Barb & Bob Struble
Mansfield, Ohio

Where are you from?

Barb: I’m from Rockford, Illinois. 

Bob: And I grew up in the small town of Bucyrus in northern Ohio.

How did you meet?

Bob: We met in Boston. I was an intern/resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Barb: I graduated from Denison University in Ohio, then traveled around Europe with a friend. On my return, I assumed an editing position at Abt Associates, a research and development firm in Cambridge.

Bob: I was off on a Friday night and thought I’d go out for dinner. There was a popular bar in the city called Your Father’s Mustache, and I stopped by there first for a drink. It was early in the evening so there weren’t too many people. I walked in and sitting at a table was a blonde dressed in a miniskirt. Remember Twiggy? Of course, I hustled over there. After a brief conversation, I knew this was someone I wanted to know better. So I asked her to dinner. There you go! 

Barb: We’ve been married fifty-five years.

Where did you go from there?

Bob: After a stint in the Air Force, we returned to Ohio where I practiced pediatrics for eight years.

Barb: But I never saw him. We had two little kids, and he was always on call. 

Bob: We decided to go to Wisconsin so I could return to school and become board-certified in allergy/immunology. We then moved to Mansfield, Ohio, and I maintained an allergy practice for thirty-three years.

And you have two kids?

Barb: Our son, Steve, an orthopedic surgeon, lives in North Carolina. He and his wife have two young children. Our daughter, Susy, an IT consultant, lives in California with her husband and two teenage sons.

How did you discover Kiawah?

Barb: Our son attended Duke, introducing us to the Carolinas. We’re avid skiers and rarely vacationed in the South. Wanting to investigate building a vacation home in a warmer climate, in 2001 we put golf clubs in the car and drove down to Beaufort, South Carolina. Working our way up the coast, we stayed at Seabrook. As we were leaving, we saw the Kiawah sign and decided to take a look. We quickly realized Kiawah was the place for us. We bought a lot a few months later and built our house in 2005. As of this Christmas, we will have been in our home for eighteen years. 

Bob: For a while, we lived part-time here and in Mansfield. In 2018, we decided it was time to leave Ohio. We built a home in Apex, North Carolina, to be near Steve and his family. But Covid changed things. We were much more involved in activities here, so we sold our North Carolina home in fall 2023.

What do you like to do here?

Bob: We enjoyed playing golf but now play pickleball regularly with a large group of friends. 

Barb: I feel pickleball is more vigorous and less time-consuming. I enjoy playing with groups at both Cassique and Roy Barth [Tennis Center]. I belong to different clubs and like being involved in community service projects. Of course, I also spend time gardening, biking, traveling, and beach walking. 

Bob: I am involved with the turtle patrol. I realized there are a number of physicians who own homes on Kiawah, so I organized a medical mingle, which casually meets once a month at The Nest for coffee and conversation. Barb and I like to kayak, and we enjoy local boat trips with the grandkids and friends. And, of course, there’s fishing, cast netting, bike riding, and beach walking. Never a dull moment on Kiawah.

Tell me about the move to Seafields.

Barb: In many ways, living at Seafields is an extension of living on Kiawah. By maintaining our Club Memberships, we can visit the Island, play pickleball, kayak, and eat at the great restaurants. We can still do all of the things we love, but we’ll have the medical and social support of a CCRC [Continuing Care Retirement Community] as needed. It’s the best of both worlds. 

Bob: I know we won’t be able to do what we’re doing right now in the future, but Seafields provides a gradual transition in our lives.  

Barb: Bob and I feel very fortunate.