Syracuse oral surgeon Bob Vitkus’s love for the outdoors and outdoors activities will continue to be felt by Central New York residents long after his death.
This week it was announced that his estate left $10 million to the Central New York Community Foundation to help support outdoor parks and recreational areas in Onondaga and Madison counties.
The Dr. Robert J. Vitkus Fund will support programs that involve youth, hunting and fishing or conservation efforts to improve wildlife habitat and forest health, said Tom Griffith, vice president of development for the Community Foundation.
Bob Vitkus loved to fish and made a point to wet his line in a multitude of waters — in the Caribbean, Montana and Upstate NY.
Vitkus an avid hunter and fly fisherman, died June 22 at his home in Fayetteville following a 17-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67.
“I worked with Bob to put together this fund and to make sure his intentions for it will be met,” Griffith said.
Money from the fund will be dispensed in grants available through the Community Foundation’s bi-annual Community Grant program, which supports nonprofit programs, capital projects and organizational development efforts. The grants awarded by the fund will be capped at no more than $150,000 each, allowing a wide variety of efforts and projects to take advantage of the fund, Griffith said.
Vitkus believed time spent outdoors with family and friends was a gift to be shared. This is the second huge donation promoting the outdoors left by Vitkus in his will.
Last fall, it was announced he left $2.2 million to the Central New York Land Trust – money that will be used to support watershed protection, public access, recreation, hunting, fishing and forest management.
Vitkus was a graduate of Georgetown University Dental School and had a general practice residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. He late began his oral surgery practice in Central New York. By the end of his career, he and his partners owned four offices here with 50 employees.
His service to the community included being past president of the Onondaga County Dental Society. He was also a member of the 5th District Dental Society, DeWitt Rod & Gun Club, Ruffed Grouse Society of Central New York and the Syracuse/Canadian Fish & Game Club.
Vitkus never married or had children. He was wedded to the outdoors and enjoyed countless hours in the woods hunting, on waters fishing or on mountain slopes skiing, said his brother, Jim Vitkus. He was extremely devoted, though, to his three nieces.
Jim Vitkus noted in his brother’s eulogy: “By all accounts. He had three loves in his life. They were my kids: Lauren, Karen and Diane.”
On June 26, 2020, just four days after Bob’s passing, his niece Lauren, who followed in his dental footsteps by becoming an orthodontist, named her first child Patrick Robert in his honor.
Griffith said the Dr. Robert J. Vitkus Fund is designed to benefit the community in perpetuity.
The Community Foundation will use a percentage of the fund each year to provide grants. The remaining fund balance will be invested, growing to keep up with inflation and increasing the annual spendable allowance for grants.
Over time, the cumulative amount of grants awarded is expected to surpass the original gift used to seed the fund.
“While Bob will be missed by so many, his legacy lives on through his gracious financial support for the conservation of Central New York’s land, promoting both sportsmanship and habitat development,” Griffith said.
“He didn’t just give us money, he gave us nature.”
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