Robert E. Melby (August 6, 1928 – January 12, 2019) was an American optometrist and former politician in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Bob was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota and came to Florida in 1956. He attended

St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf ...

, Moorhead State College,

Illinois College of Optometry The Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) is a private optometry college in Chicago, Illinois. Graduating approximately 160 optometrists a year, it is the largest optometry college in the United States and the oldest continually operating educati ...

, and the

New England College of Optometry The New England College of Optometry is a private optometry college in Boston, Massachusetts. It enrolls over 500 students and is one of the oldest continually operating college of optometry in the United States. History It was originally ...

and holds a

Doctor of Optometry Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Uni ...

(O.D.) degree. He served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from 1978 to 1982 for district 59. He lost reelection in 1982. He is a member of the Republican Party. Melby ran for the Florida Senate in 1986 for the 18th district. He lost the general election to the incumbent, Jeanne Malchon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melby, Bob 1928 births 2019 deaths Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives