By Amy Dusek
This straightforward advice was given by Robert Sottile, D.C., to his son Dean
Sotille, D.C. The younger Sottile has used his father’s wisdom in his
own chiropractic office and in his life in general.
Robert Sottile was a man best known for his focus and passion for chiropractic
and his characteristic tough and firm exterior. Nearly every thought and action
revolved around his life’s mission: to live in a subluxation-free world.
“The longer I’m in practice, the more I realize what it took for
my dad to have a family and a huge practice,” says Sottile.
“My dad’s love was inside out. On the outside, he didn’t appear
to be a guy brimming with love. He didn’t walk around like Mr. Rodgers,”
says Sottile. “He wasn’t easily approachable, but if you were able
to break through he’d do anything for you.”
It was that “firm exterior” that empowered and inspired so many
in the profession. Much of Robert Sottile’s life revolved around DE, Dynamic
Essentials, with Sid Williams recalls Dean, a 1998 graduate of Life University.
He was a Friday night speaker for 30 years. Robert Sottile was intimately involved
with the building of Life University, and is considered a founding member. He
scouted buildings with Williams for what later became the “Lucky Street
Clinic.”
Besides his charmingly gruff personality, Robert Sottile was also known for
creating The Sottile Plan. This plan asked chiropractors to donate $1 from every
new patient that entered their office. The plan raised $2 million for Life University,
also representing two million people exposed to chiropractic care.
Dean Sottile lovingly recalls his father as a “typical Italian guy.”
“He’d eliminate anything that messed with what he loved.”
And that included chiropractic. Dr. Robert Sottile had on occasion banned patients
from his office, if they weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. Yet, remarkably these
patients would send him referrals.
Dr. Robert Sottile mission of a subluxation-free world was carried into his
practice, in his family life and even in his daily errands. In the grocery store
or in his practice, he never missed the opportunity to spread the benefits of
chiropractic care.
“If my dad saw people buying aspirin he’d ask them, ‘What
you taking that garbage for?’” He was already ready to spread the
benefits of chiropractic care.
He believed a chiropractor’s sole purpose was to correct and eliminate
subluxations. He did not practice a therapeutic model of chiropractic.”
Dean recalls his father saying to his patients, “I’m not on a mission
to free you from pain. My mission is to help you express 100 percent of your
God-given potential and physical matter by making your body subluxation-free.”
Robert Sottile is revered by many as a true pioneer in chiropractic. After graduating
from the New York Institute he enjoyed bustling practices in Rockaway and Wycoff,
New Jersey and Dunedin, Fla., over a span of nearly 40 years. Robert Sottile
believed that chiropractors should focus on finding and correcting subluxations,
and nothing else. He didn’t believe in a therapeutic approach or pain
management.
“He pulled no punches and wasn’t afraid to hurt your feelings—that
was Pop. It’s funny, the only thing that meant as much as chiropractic
to him was his family. That was his world,” says Sottile. Robert Sottile
is survived by his mother, wife and three children, Bob, Laura and Dean.
Throughout his career Sottile served on many chiropractic boards and associations.
He was no stranger to receiving awards and accolades, but they weren’t
his proudest achievements. Dean is quick to provide an answer to his father’s
biggest achievement. “If you asked him today about his biggest accomplishment,
it would have to be that two of his children became chiropractors.”
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