I first met Bob at my parent’s home in Hahira, GA during the 70s.  He and Dorothy had retired at Moody AFB around that same time frame and he, my father and my brother became the best of friends.  If Dad was somewhere doing some odd job, Bob was always there helping out.  Bob took Jeff under his wing and always treated him as his own child.  You could always find all three at the Cherokee after work.   Bob finally moved to Texas in the 90s as Dorothy had become ill and he wanted to be as close to some of the more qualified military hospitals that would be able to take care of her.  My parents and my brother, Jeff, stayed in constant contact with him and they would visit on occasion.
 I didn’t know Bob very well until my mother passed away in 2010.  My sister, Robin, and brother, Jeff, were much more acquainted with him because I left home when I was very young and married.  The 3 of us took over calling and visiting Bob after mom’s and Dorothy’s death. We pleaded with him to move back to GA so we could be closer, but he would tell us he was too old and set in his ways to move.  Plus he liked being close to the better military hospitals as he was starting to experience health problems himself.  We were so very thankful when he became friends with Liz Bruinekool and Harriet Goff.  They both came to know and love Bob, and were there with him until the end.  Bob especially loved Liz. He thought she was a sport.
  I know I can speak for my siblings when I say we all developed such a  loving and caring relationship with Bob over the past 6 years.  Jeff and I would visit with him once a year when time would allow and we would just have the best time hanging out at his home; cooking, reminiscing about old times when he lived in GA, and visiting with his new friends at Auroras.  We all cherished the wonderful friendship we had with Bob and he will be greatly missed, but we will always have our memories of the great times we had.