Obituary: Robert Mettler

Robert Mettler died peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 16, 2023, after years battling cancer.

Born in Shafter in 1936, Robert grew up on his dad’s farm. After graduating from Shafter High, he attended Stanford University and Bakersfield College before moving to Los Angeles in the 1950s, working in the fledgling semiconductor industry.

During his early career, he supervised semiconductor assembly operations in Hong Kong. By the mid-1960s, he’d settled in Belmont Shore, where he lived for the rest of his life. After more than two decades in semiconductor manufacturing, he shifted to real estate investment in the Long Beach area.

Robert loved the California desert, target shooting and exploring mining sites, ghost towns and petroglyphs. Following his mother’s death, he retired to care for his elderly father, traveling between Shafter and Long Beach.

An elder in the Reformed Church of the U.S., he attended synod meetings in the midwest and helped establish a new mission church in Los Angeles.

Though never married, Robert was a staunch family man, visiting extended family around the country. He is survived by his younger siblings Laurence, Rosella, Diana and Barbara, as well as nine nieces and nephews. His funeral service will be held at Ebenezer Reformed Church in Shafter at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. Interment to follow at Shafter Memorial Park at 2 p.m.