“Whenever I think of Bob, I will likely always remember him as he was often described by so many people who loved and knew him best: that he was “always willing to give you the shirt off of his back”. Now, as many of you know, this was almost a literal impossibility, since about 90% of the time, he was never ACTUALLY wearing a shirt. ? But in reality, there wasn’t anything farther from the truth to describe Bob’s giving heart. Since the day I met him, I always admired that most about Bob; even if there were times that he couldn’t give you that “shirt”, he would do his best to help in order to get you one. Simply put: if Bob was ABLE to give to another person, then he was almost always WILLING to do so. Even one of his last acts was to selflessly give to others whom he would never even have the chance to know. You just don’t come across very many people like that, these days. He was a servant by nature. Bob was hands-down one of the most giving and hard-working people I’ve met in my life. I think it’s easy to say that Bob valued his family more than anything else. I remember one year at a birthday party, he was handing out these neon purple, glow-in-the-dark necklaces; but ONLY to the people who were his family. I can remember noticing just how truly happy he looked while standing there in the corner. He was looking out at all of those purple rings floating across the dark room; seemingly proud of what he had created. He loved his pets, loved his cousins, his sisters, his parents; but most of all, he loved Alexa. You could just see that in his eyes when he talked about her. It wasn’t the least bit difficult to notice that. Bob also loved his Momma like no other son could, and the same love could be said for Bonnie. How fitting is it that he cared for her in her final days on this Earth, and is now being welcomed by her during his first hours in Heaven? I’m sure that joyful reunion only had a brief delay, in the form of an excited Buffy dancing in between her daddy’s feet. I knew everybody in this room is feeling the hurt from the loss of Bob, and that there are a lot of questions that we may never know the answers to. But I think that’s just the selfish, human, part of us that wasn’t quite ready to let him go. For me, I find it hard not to smile when I think of him up there now; free from all of the things that had terribly burdened him here on Earth. I see him enjoying a warm day sitting by the water, fishing pole in hand, a full cooler by his side, listening to Chris Stapleton on his portable speaker, sunglasses on, wearing that slight grin, and… of course, not a shirt to be found anywhere. ? I will think of Bob whenever I see someone doing good for others, when there really was no reason to do so. I will remember Bob whenever all of the Black-eyed Susans he’d planted around my oak tree make their annual return in the Springtime. Although he was only part of my life for a short while, I will always be grateful for that time that he was here. I will remember Bob; and I will miss him, too…” As spoken by Brian Debaun.

Feb 25 2019