Foundation Fighting Blindness Victory for Vision Campaign

Bob Reintsma has been passionate about finding cures for inherited retinal diseases for most of his life. Now, he and his wife, Lupe, want to make sure the work continues long after they’re gone. And they’re doing it in partnership with Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Born with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa, a particularly rare form of the disease, Bob’s vision started to decline early in his life and by his mid-twenties, he was completely blind. Like many who have lost vision gradually over time, Bob tried not to let it affect his life as long as he could.

But blindness didn’t stop him. He learned to cope and remade himself as a real estate man—a successful one at that.

“When I got let go from regular work, I went down to the blind commission and took cane training and also went to real estate school to get my license,” he says. “I worked in partnership with a driver and a reader. It worked out very well for quite a number of years.”

Over the years, they’ve kept tabs on the progress of researchers working to develop treatments and cures for inherited retinal diseases, particularly the work supported by Foundation Fighting Blindness. As committed as they are to one another, they are equally committed to the mission of the Foundation. They are active in the Seattle chapter and its VisionWalks and have attended multiple VISIONS conferences.

“There’s been so much progress made, since even the last 30 years,” Lupe says, “that you know the money is being used wisely.”

Bob and Lupe have committed significant planned gifts to the Foundation—and their generosity has inspired the creation of The Reintsma 2025 Legacy Society.

The goal of this new legacy society is to raise $20 million as part of the Victory for Vision campaign. For Bob, lending his name to an effort that seeks to ensure the continued success of all this work is a fitting tribute to his friend, Foundation founder Gordon Gund.

“It’s good that he started with the means and was interested in doing a thing like that,” he says. “Somebody that, together with his doctors, took the reins and started the Foundation. I certainly give my appreciation to him.”

Both Bob and Lupe believe that the research taking place one day could eventually end inherited retinal diseases.

“It certainly looks like it to me,” Lupe says, “from the things that we hear and read.” They both trust that a gift to the Foundation, whether outright or planned, is a worth-while investment.

“I have to do it by trust,” Bob says. “I don’t have the money to do my own research so it has to be put in the hands of scientists and doctors and ophthalmologists. I can’t think of a better place to put it.”

• The Reintmsa 2025 Legacy Society recognizes donors who, between 2020 and 2025, commit to leave a legacy through a planned or deferred gift to the Foundation.
• All new, previously undocumented, and increased planned gifts are counted as part of the $20 million Victory for Vision legacy campaign goal.
• Planned gifts include annuities, trusts, bequests and other estate-planning vehicles.

To learn more about making a planned gift and becoming a Founding Member of The Reintsma 2025 Legacy Society, contact John Corneille at jcorneille@fightingblindness.org or 952-314-7578.