Robert Glen Spearow
July 18, 1927 - August 10, 2016
Obituary
Robert Glen Spearow passed away on August 10, at the age of 89. His friends called him Bob.
He was born in July 18, 1927 in Portland, Oregon, to Carl and Grace Spearow. At a young age, he lost his mother and brothers to tuberculosis, and was raised by his father and his Aunt Berdena.
At age 18, in 1945, Bob joined the army, to serve his country in World War II. However, the war came to an end while he was in training, so he “dodged a bullet”, as they say.
Bob served a few years in the army, and he then went to college at Oregon State University, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He also met his wife to be, Frances, and they were happily married for 40 years, until she passed away in 1993. They produced 5 amazing children, Laura, Sylvia, Carl, Ralph and Sharon, as well as 11 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.
Bob worked most of his career at Boeing, in the military and aerospace division. He worked on various aircraft systems, but perhaps his proudest project was the Lunar Rover that traveled with the Apollo missions to the Moon. According to Bob, he put a thumb print on a circuit board in a Lunar Rover, and it is sitting on the moon to this day.
At home, Bob was quite the handyman. He did projects from fixing the washing machine to building a home-made camper. He spent a lot of time in the garage, building cabinets and coffee tables. He was especially fond of black walnut.
Bob was a bit of a photographer. He took thousands of pictures over the years, all of them on 35 mm slides. The family would set up a projector to see them from time to time, and they still can.
He also loved hiking and camping, with a lot of time spent fishing for trout and salmon. He and Fran took several long trips to Alaska in their camper. He was also very fond of Hawaii, where he took the entire family on a few memorable trips.
Bob had a long, fulfilling life. He will be missed.
You will miss him. A very nice obituary.
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We will miss you Dad. You raised all to be strong and rely on each other, so we will. You also insisted we get educated and work hard, so we have. You leave behind 11 grandkids and 8 greats, which are all following in your footsteps.
Hope you have found Mom, and are now planning a trip to the moon, or elsewhere. Love you, byeee !
We will miss you Dad, but will always remember the things you taught us growing up, the fishing trips to Alaska, family reunions in Hawaii, and the time we have spent together over the past 5 years.
Bob and Fran forever!
One more nice Pic, Dad building the staircase for Sylvia and Red’s cabin in Anchor Point.
I remember sitting in the living room with Grandpa spearrow playing with his gadgets, in this case the humidity gauge. I was around 7 yrs old. I asked how do you know it works and before he answers I blew into it thinking my air would have more water than living room air. He told me how impressed he was that a young kid could would come up with that test and most adults wouldn’t consider fact. I remember it very clearly because it made me feel very good that the smartest person I knew was impressed. I always admired his passion for technical endeavors that take a lifetime of study like engineering, building, symphony. Nothing was more obvious than our regular trips to the Boeing museum where he could talk for an hour about a detail inside a part that he worked on or knew the painful story behind.
I work at downtown self storage in Portland 1304 NW Johnson st. I found a brick carved on it “bob Spearow July 44” I did a google search and it led me here. Just wanted to share. It’s still here. Bob must have been 17 years old when or if he was here?