Robert Howard Thomas
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Robert (Bob) Thomas, 83, passed away peacefully on March 30, 2022, in Grand Junction, Colorado. He was born on February 10, 1939, in Muscatine, Iowa, the son of Clifford and Mabel (Reid) Thomas.
Bob graduated from East High School in Sioux City, Iowa, a member of the Class of 1957. Following graduation, he served with the U.S. Army as an expert rifleman and sharpshooter. Upon returning to Sioux City, he married his high school sweetheart, Karen Sue Davenport, and they settled in their hometown of Sioux City, Iowa, where they lived in their yellow house on the hill for almost 50 years. Many happy family memories were spent splashing in the backyard pool that was pristine thanks to his care. In 2015, they moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, to be closer to their grandchildren. Bob and Karen celebrated 56 years of marriage in January 2022.
Bob's eye for precision was a talent he used in his career in road construction (concrete, not that asphalt stuff). He helped to build thousands of miles of roads and a few runways across the United States. If you have traveled through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, then you most likely have traveled the roads Bob built. It was a career that he was destined for. When he was a young boy, his mother would get a phone call that Bob had not made it to school. His mother would just need to find the nearest construction site and she would find him watching their progress.
When the weather brought him home for a break during the winter months, he loved traveling west across the country with Karen and their son, Chris, always finding time to ski along the way. For many years, Bob and Karen enjoyed spending their winters in Panama City, Florida. A quiet and kind man, Bob loved Nascar, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
He is survived and remembered by his wife, Karen Thomas, their son Chris and daughter-in-law, Jana. Bob has four loving grandchildren: Kiaja (Austin) Walter, MiKealy, Brielle, and Andrew.
Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Mabel, his sisters, Betty (Thomas) Diment, Judy (Thomas) Mettlin, and his brother, Joe Thomas.
A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Callahan - Edfast Chapel in Grand Junction, Colorado.