Robert C. Gruman, owner of Winkley Orthotics and Prosthetics, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, passed away on December 14, 2012. He was 90 years old.
As the third generation of family ownership of Winkley, Gruman worked there from 1938 to 1984. During that time he served in World War II and immediately thereafter as a weather observer in Benghazi, Libya, and Cairo, Egypt, from 1943 to 1946; became a certified prosthetist in 1954; and served as president of the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) in 1964. He helped start the O&P program at Century College, White Bear Lake, Minnesota, in 1974 by securing start-up funding and hiring its first director.
After his retirement, he was succeeded at Winkley by his son, who survives him, Greg Gruman, the company’s president and CEO; a fifth generation now works at the company, Alex Gruman, CTO, and Amalia Gruman, CTP.
