Robert Lawrence Bower

Robert Lawrence Bower was born on July 8, 1920, in Delano, California at the back of his father's auto shop where the family lived. He passed away on May 23, 2017, in Bakersfield following a heart attack brought on by a faulty heart valve. Just prior to his passing, he had been a vigorous and robust 96-year-old.

With the outbreak of World War II, Bob followed his interest in aviation by enlisting in the US Navy where he flew F6F Hellcat fighters off the carrier USS Yorktown. He flew protection for the landing on Iwo Jima, and he was in the first group to attack Tokyo. He later received a gold star for his heroic service record. Following the war, Bob came back to Delano and started to work in his grandfather's insurance agency. His grandfather soon became ill, and Bob took over management of the Bower Insurance Agency.

In May 1948, Bob married La Verne DeWeese Boland. They had four children. Following her death in July 1970, Bob married Doris Bramblett Thompson, a recent widow with two children, in August 1972.

Bob was an inveterate gambler, but it was only a diversion. As a young man, he once dug a cellar under his mother's house in Visalia so that he could host a regular poker game, and that continued to the present. He had a great friend with whom he bet on horse racing every day until the friend's death. Bob ran a football pool which continued to this past season, and there could be a hundred or more participants. Finally, he and Doris would often drive to one of the nearby casinos to spend an enjoyable afternoon. His records of win and loss were kept in the "black-book" he carried in his pocket, and it stretched back many years. By the way, he was also great at dominoes as well as cards.

Over the years Bob and Doris have been ultimate hosts to holiday parties for an extended family which expanded to include even the families of the children's spouses at times. Bob knew how to live life to the fullest, and he took the rest of us along for the ride.

Bob is survived by his wife, Doris; six children and their spouses: Mike Bower (Constanta), Sam Thompson (Beverley), Steve Bower (Shirley), Sandy DeFraga (Dan), Rick Bower (Grace), Patty Craig (Jeff); as well as eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; also brother Donald and his family.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 2, 2017, at 9:30 am in the Delano Mortuary. Interment will take place immediately afterward and luncheon will then be served at the Elks Club.

Services entrusted to Delano Mortuary, a Dignity Memorial Provider.