OBITUARY Bob “Papa” Colbert September 5, 1931 – September 29, 2018 Bob “Papa” Colbert September 5, 1931 to September 29, 2018 At 3:00 AM on September 29, 2018, while holding Babe’s hand and with Joy and Gay by his side, Jesus took hold of his other hand and took him to Heaven. Bob passed just how he had hoped, peacefully and with his girls around him. He was born in Wing, Arkansas on September 5, 1931.
His family moved frequently throughout Arkansas, working the crops to survive the post depression years. In 1951, Bob moved to San Diego and thought he had entered paradise! He got a job working at Challenge Dairy in Mission Valley, California, which back then was filled with nothing but cows!
He would tell you that his job at Challenge Dairy was the best job he ever had! He made many lifelong friends during that time. While living in San Diego, Bob went back to Arkansas yearly to visit family but there was this cute girl named Marzelle who he had fallen hard for that he always made a point to see.
They met when she was 15 and he was 19. He wanted to marry her then, but she asked if they could wait until she graduated from high school. So, when she graduated from high school, he drove to Arkansas and talked her into marrying him around 1:00 AM on June 14, 1954.
They were married by 11:00 AM that same day an hour away in Greenville, Mississippi and started their life together in San Diego. Bob worked and “Babe” stayed home during those early years of marriage. They were thrilled to welcome their first daughter, Joy, into their lives in 1955, foster many children during those early years and then overjoyed by the birth of Gay in 1963.
It was also during this time that they became actively involved with East San Diego Assembly of God Church. There they made many life long friends and held many church events at their home on Croft Street. Bob worked hard to make a good living for his little family, often working side jobs to get ahead.
For a few years, besides his job at Challenge, he started a plumbing business and tinted windows with two friends. He even tinted the windows of the 1966 Pontiac GTO Monkeemobile used in the TV show “The Monkeys”. Also during these years, Bob had the opportunity to return to school to get his high school diploma.
He had quit school at the age of 13 to help his parents provide for the family. Eventually, Bob began working for Foremost Foods when Challenge Creamery closed their doors. During this time and with the encouragement of a woman whom we called Grandma Edlund, Bob bought his first of many properties that he and Babe would fix and flip, long before flipping houses became a thing.
His job with Foremost eventually took him away from San Diego and on to Fresno, where he worked until he retired in 1984. During this time, he and Babe continued to buy homes and fix them up. Some he kept and some he sold, but he always enjoyed buying property.
Even in the past few months before he passed, he was still looking at the listings of foreclosed homes and wishing he was well enough to buy them. Bob loved to take Route 66 and go back to Arkansas with Babe to visit relatives. He enjoyed telling stories of those trips and their many adventures.
He had a kind loving heart that drew adults and children alike. He also enjoyed a good cup of coffee and conversation. In spite of health issues, he still had a servant’s heart and acted on it by delivering meals to shut-ins, and helping his tenants in whatever unfortunate circumstances they found themselves in.
Even as a small boy, he would send what he could to “Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home”, knowing the kids were orphans, just as his parents were. He never forgot his humble beginnings. He became a Master Mason in July 1959, and received his 50-year pin in 2009.
In 1979 he became a member of Scottish Rite. Even though unable to be active, he participated by donating to Scottish Rite charities. Most importantly, Bob was a man of integrity.
The most important decision he made in his life was accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior in December 1982. He attended Evangelical Community Church and then Peoples Church until, because of health issues, they were no longer able to attend. With the exception of his beloved wife and daughters, the loves of his life were his grandchildren.
Each of them had a special place in his heart. As “Papa”, he had a special place in their hearts as well. He supported them wholeheartedly in everything they were involved in.
Jeremy, Jason, Robert, Ryan and Raylene have each been blessed by their Papa in so many ways. His parents, Arlie and Faye Colbert, his brothers Roy and Joe Colbert, and his sister Emma Thomas preceded him in death. Continuing his legacy are his cherished wife Marzelle, his beloved daughters Joy Kinzel and Gay McVicar, and their husbands Dennis and Robert as well as Jeremy and Misty Kinzel, Jason and Kristina Kinzel, Robert and Kandace McVicar, Ryan McVicar and Raylene McVicar and his great-grandchildren Mckenzie, Logan, Christian, Olivia and Emily, and his granddog, Rayley.
Bob lived a full and wonderful life and his family will forever miss him.
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