Robert C. Gaston

Robert (aka Bob, aka Frank) Cecil Gaston Jr. died Friday, May 26, 2017, at the age of 88 ½ following a nine-month illness. He leaves his wife, Jeanne Clements McBirney Gaston; his son, Robert (Bob) and daughter-in-law, Mary Sue; his daughter, Elise Gaston Chand; grandchildren Caitlin Gaston Crawford and her husband, Clint; USMC First Lieutenant Alex Gaston and his wife Justine; Dr. Sam Gaston; Daniel Gaston; and Abby Chand; and great-grandchildren Cora and Owen Crawford (it’s with great sadness we acknowledge Bob will miss their sibling’s birth December 2017); and ex-wife Sandra Hensley Gaston and former stepson, Barry Hensley. Bob also leaves an infinite list of beloved family members and friends whose lives he has made better.

Born in San Francisco, CA, in 1928, Bob lived a short while in the city until his parents, Robert Sr. and Lottie Maureen Gaston, moved to Nacogdoches, Texas, where their family grew to include brothers Bill and Richard. Growing up on a family-run dairy farm as the oldest of three boys led to many hilarious stories, no doubt embellished by Bob’s wonderful sense of humor. But it also gave Bob countless skills and self-reliance that served him well throughout his life.

Bob served in both the US Marine Corps and US Air Force, and utilized his service and the (at the time) new GI Bill to earn a college degree from the University of Houston. Pursuing his passion for the television news industry, Bob was one of the fledgling media’s earliest on-air journalists, along with the likes of a very young Willard Scott. Bob realized his dream when he joined NBC as a White House news correspondent in Washington, DC. Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, John Tower, and many others were among the political leaders Bob interviewed and regularly reported on, and his office walls are still covered with their photos and memorabilia.

When Texas called with an anchor position at WFAA, Bob moved the family to Dallas, where he worked until making the switch from reporting on political leaders to becoming one. Representing District 33M in east Dallas, Bob spent 12 years splitting his time between his district and the state’s Austin capitol. As a state representative, Bob had many interests, but focused especially on quality healthcare (leading to the building of hospitals like Dallas Doctors’ Hospital) and quality, accessible education (leading to the robust development of the Lone Star State’s community college program).

But that was just his remarkable professional life. Bob’s personal interests were incredibly wide and varied. He painted avidly and his oil, water color, and acrylic paintings were regularly on exhibition throughout the southwest; as well, his family’s homes are notorious for lacking free wall space, bearing, instead, countless paintings Bob has gifted them over the decades.

As a young man, Bob was a classically trained opera singer and performed in many different venues throughout the Gulf Coast states. Until his recent illness, he was notorious for bursting into full-throated song without warning, no matter the surroundings, much to the entertainment (and sometimes embarrassment) of his family. Bob was passionate, as well, about writing, and he added “published author” to his long list of accomplishments in his later years.

There wasn’t a mechanical, electrical, or plumbing issue he couldn’t examine and fix, explaining that he just somehow knew how to resolve whatever was the problem. On his own, he built multiple, beautiful, gabled barns and buildings, and he carved lovely art work and frames. A true renaissance man, even in his 70s, he remained a talented rifle marksman, capable of making a seemingly impossible shot in poor conditions – a testament, no doubt, to his USMC days.

Bob loved to go and do, and was always ready for an adventure or to spend time with family and friends. He was just as happy attending a five-star meal while touring Europe as he was exploring a “greasy spoon” in some tiny, off-the-beaten-track town he discovered, never minding on those occasions he got food poisoning – to him, it was a little inconvenience that in no way detracted from the fun of exploring. It was not uncommon for Bob to phone his daughter or his son to tell them he’d decided to go on a trip, then to pack up his car and take off – sometimes to visit his California cousins at their vineyard, sometimes to take photos of Texas’ Big Bend (for subjects to paint), and sometimes, he’d just take off wherever he felt drawn to go, not always remembering to call family to let them know where he was. When he returned to Dallas, he’d share stories of his adventures, regaling family with all he had seen and done, and the people he met along the way.

This wanderlust was with him throughout his life. Summers when his children were still in school frequently meant piling into his car or small motor home, often with their friends along for fun, and heading “out.” The weeks would fly by as he drove wherever whim took them, frequently changing direction simply because someone met along the way mentioned something of interest a few hundred miles “just down the road.” Yellowstone, Monument Valley, Estes Park, Death Valley, Albuquerque's old plaza, White Sands, the Petrified Forest, cliff dwellings and petroglyphs, the Grand Canyon, the Grand Tetons, Palo Duro, the grasslands where Custer met his well-deserved end…. even crossing the border into Mexico to ride little burros down dusty, deserted roads. Bob and the kids were never quite sure where they’d wind up or what they’d see, but there was never a doubt that it would be amazing.

In Bob’s last days, he spoke of his desire to go Home to Jesus. And while his family and friends miss him terribly, knowing the depth of his faith is a comfort and source of peace.

Visitation is Saturday, June 3rd, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Sparkman/Crane, 10501 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a contribution in Bob’s name be made to one of his favorite charities: Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas.