Robert Frank Ratcliff

Robert, who preferred “Bobby”, was born June 19, 1943 in Corvallis, Oregon, where his father was an officer stationed at nearby US Army Camp Adair. After his father’s deployment to Europe, Bobby, his mother and brother lived with his grandmother in Texas until his father returned after the end of the war. The family briefly lived in Monterrey, Mexico while his father managed a lumberyard there. Then Bobby’s father went to work for the Hughes Tool Company. Following the oil business, the family then lived a series of towns in Texas and Louisiana through Bobby’s high school years.

Bobby suffered from a learning disability caused by Cerebral Palsy. This was severe enough that he never was able to read, write, or do math. After attending special education classes through high school age, Bobby then entered the Career and Guidance Center in Midland, where he received training in vocational skills. He worked in a plant nursery in Midland for two years before being enrolled in a University of Texas program in Austin that provided dormitory housing and support for adult handicapped workers. Bobby joined the kitchen staff of Kinsolving dormitory at UT, retiring after 20 years with pension and medical benefits. After retirement, he returned to Midland to live with his parents. After the passing of his mother in 1999 and his father in 2004, Bobby moved to a retirement residence in Plano, Texas, near his brother, David, residing there until his death. During this time, he greatly enjoyed family gatherings and participating weekly in My Possibilities, a Plano program aimed at teaching vocational and life skills to adult handicapped persons. Between the retirement residence and My Possibilities, Bobby got to know, and be known by, several hundred people. Despite his disability, Bobby never failed to have a cheerful outlook on life. He literally was a friend to everyone. People that have known him all his life cannot recall him ever saying anything negative about anyone he met.

Bobby is preceded in death by his mother, Vietta Ratcliff and his father, Frank Ratcliff, and is survived by his brother, David Ratcliff and his nephews Douglas and Thomas Ratcliff and their families.

Following cremation, Bobby will be laid to rest in Rest Haven Memorial Park in Midland, next to his mother and father. A celebration of Bobby’s life will be limited to the immediate family due to the current pandemic. Rather than flowers, a donation to My Possibilities (https://mypossibilities.org/) in Plano would be appreciated.