Robert Grindley Isbell

Precisely at sunset on October 16, 2026, shortly after the rainbow over Tampa General Hospital had faded, Robert Grindley Isbell (Bob) peacefully passed away with loving family by his side. His 89 years of life were proudly defined by hard work, community involvement, and undying love for his wife, his three daughters, his eleven grandchildren, and his three great grandchildren.

Bob was born in Toledo, Ohio, on August 25, 1937, then moved with his parents to Grosse Pointe, Michigan, at age 6. After his father taught him to ride a two-wheeler, he took his first job diligently delivering the daily newspaper by bicycle. Bob was the only child of Robert Henry Isbell and Winifred Grindley Isbell. His father was a kind and gregarious Frigidaire salesman who spent hours on the weekends teaching young Bob to play baseball. His mother was an accomplished artist and collector of rare books, Persian rugs, and lovely linens. Bob’s mom was certainly the inspiration for his lifelong appreciation for art in all its forms. In middle school, Bob converted his parents’ basement fruit cellar into his personal photography dark room. In adulthood, he began his lifelong passion for studying and collecting early American antiques and Audubon prints.

Bob attended boarding school at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, then went on to Princeton University where he majored in English, began his pre-med studies, and performed musical review with The Princeton Triangle Club. Next was medical school at the University of Michigan where he became a lifelong die-hard Michigan football fan. Go Blue! In 1963, while still in medical school, Bob met Susan Steele Isbell (Sue) at his college roommate’s wedding to Sue’s older sister. Bob’s daughters never grew tired of hearing him tell the story of how he and Sue talked for hours that first night, how they caught each others’ eyes across the party room the next morning, and how they had fallen in love by the end of that first weekend together. In June 1965, just two weeks prior to starting his radiology residency at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Bob and Sue were married in Syracuse NY. And by 1970, they had become a family of five with three young daughters.

In 1969, Bob and Sue left Minnesota for the sunnier skies of Tampa, Florida, where Bob joined a radiology group that eventually became SDI (Stern, Drake, Isbell & Associates) Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology. His thirty-year medical career flourished among beloved colleagues at St Joseph’s Hospital, and he eventually served as Hillsborough County Medical Association president and Clinical Associate Professor of Radiology for the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Shortly after retirement from radiology practice in 1999, Bob and one of his lifelong friends and Sunday morning running partners traveled to Kenya where they bravely summited Mt Kilimanjaro. In addition to travel abroad, frequent domestic trips to visit out-of-state kids and grandkids, and many winter and summer family vacations in Telluride, Colorado, Bob immersed himself in Tampa community affairs. For many years, he served on the boards of both the Tampa Museum of Art and The Tampa Bay History Center, and he was always delighted to talk about the museums’ collections, exhibitions, and renovations. But perhaps what brought Bob the most daily joy was the wide circle of friends he developed at the Tampa Yacht and Country Club (TYCC). From his frequent sunrise walks on the Ballast Point pier where he happily photographed native birds, to his morning coffee sessions at the dock master’s office, to his Saturday morning tennis lessons, to interactions with the many servers and hosts he came to know well in the dining room, to his daily exercise routine with his buddies at the Fitness Center - for decades - the entire TYCC community embraced Bob with love and friendship that nurtured his soul. Even at age 89, and up until only one month before his death, Bob’s every morning started with his exercise routine at the Fitness Center, often with Sue alongside. His friends there called him “The Kid,” an apt moniker for an older man who had the playful spirit of someone much younger in years. Though Bob was well known for crediting his diet and exercise for his health and longevity, we all know that it was actually the divine gift of his dear friends and his beloved family who buoyed his spirit and gave him life.

Bob is survived by Sue, his wife of 61 years, his three daughters Debbie Stout (Robert) of Nashville, Tennessee, Laurie Donaghu (Michael) of Portland, Oregon, and Lynn Trosdal (Storm) of Franklin, Tennessee, as well as eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life service and reception will be held on Sunday, November 8, at 3pm at The Tampa Yacht and Country Club. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Joseph’s Hospitals Foundation (2700 West Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, Suite 310, Tampa, FL 33607), The Tampa Museum of Art (Cornelia Corbett Center, 120 W. Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa, FL 33602), or The Tampa Bay History Center (801 Water Street, Tampa, FL 33602.)