Robert C Marker, 6/23/25- 5/11/00

by The Kids
(FL, TX & CA)

Served his country with honor

Bob Marker was not a perfect man. He wasn't the best father or husband in the world. But he was ours, and we loved him.

Bob was born in Louisiana, had one brother, Billy. His biological father was a less than stellar parent, having once taken he and Billy on a cross-country trip, making the young boys work picking produce in the fields for food money (and liquor money for him). Bob spent a lot of time in New Orleans as a youth, in a less than wholesome environment, lots of drinking and card playing. Such were our roots.

So, he had a pretty rough childhood, but thrived in spite of it. He had a brilliant, creative mind, later inventing a special honeycombed cargo container with locking corners that made us all rich (for a while).

Bob made a difference in this world by serving his country in two wars. He was quite a patriot, he loved his country and seved as a bomber pilot in WWII and then as a Paratrooper in the Korean War. Military service took it's toll on him. He never talked to us about it much, but it was clear that he went through hell, as he ended up in a psychiatric facility for a year after Korea, having been diagnosed with battle fatigue.

But he came around eventually. He and Faye had six children, and we experienced a loud and raucous childhood. Never a dull moment, and lots of laughter and good times among the expected lows of life. Our Dad did the best he could as a father, and we all loved and respected him. The most valuable thing he gave us was the ability to dream, and strive for success, and to never give up. And he also taught us the value of humor and laughter. It helped us all to survive with a better quality of life.

One night in April of 2000, he fell onto the bed, holding his belly in pain. He couldn't bear it, and asked Mom to call an ambulance. And that's how he began weeks of a nightmare in an intensive care unit. He had a ruptured abdominal aneurysm, but survived the emergency surgery. Problem was, he got an infection that required toxic antibiotics that destroyed his kidneys. Doomed. He lapsed into a coma and eventually died.

Because he had never made a living will, the doctors would not remove life support, which we all knew he would have wanted. It was not easy to watch the whole process. Bob was a proud man, and would have probably just shot himself on day one rather than go through what did happen to him. Oh, well, it's past now.

Rest easy, Dad, we all loved you, admired you and miss you to this day. We'll see you again one day and enjoy a good rousing game of poker, okay?

(The Kids)