Robert William "Bob" Sechrest

A Celebration of Life Service for Robert will be held on Friday, May 31, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at the Valparaiso United Methodist Church in Valparaiso, Nebraska with Reverend Michael Burgess presiding. Visitaiton will be held on Thursday, May 30, 2024 from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with family present from 4:00 p.m until 6:00 p.m. at Farmer & Son Funeral Home in Geneva, Nebraska. There will be a Visitation 1 hour prior (9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.) to the Funeral Service on Friday, May 31, 2024 at the Valparaiso United Methodist Church in Valparaiso, Nebraska. Graveside Services will be held on Friday, May 31, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at the Shickley Public Cemetery in rural Shickley, Nebraska. In Lieu of Flowers - Memorials are to be directed to the Valparaiso United Methodist Church or Midland University. Robert (Bob) William Sechrest was born July 8, 1957 in Bellflower California. He was adopted at birth by Robert Eldon Sechrest and Mary Gayle Skiles Sechrest. He was their only child. He learned to swim in the ocean and enjoyed the California weather very much. His father was a glazier and his mother stayed at home. He spent a lot of time visiting his Uncle Howard and Aunt Toots and his cousins, Cheryl, Mike, Bill and Donnie. He said Uncle Howard was the best father figure he had. Bob enjoyed playing baseball and camping trips with their family. When Bob was 8, his parents divorced and Bob and his mom moved to Alma, Nebraska. Bob was so mystified when winter came and this white stuff came down from the sky. They didn’t have snow in California. His parents remarried when he was 10 and he moved back to Long Beach, California. He spent a year there, then he and his mother moved back to Alma. When he was 15, they moved to Ft. Morgan, Colorado. His father became very ill and they moved back to California and his father passed away when he was 16. They moved back to Ft. Morgan when Bob was ready to start his junior year of high school. The principal said his hair was too long, he had to cut it to come to school, so he quit school. He worked odd jobs and took some auto body classes at Ft. Morgan Community College. He really liked fast, loud sports cars. His favorite was his ’71 Cuda. He could name all of the 14 cars he had before he was married. Bob married Katherine (Kathy) Marble in Fremont, Nebraska in 1980. Their daughter Laura was born in 1982. Their son Keith was born in 1984. Bob went to Midland Lutheran College to obtain his GED in 1983. When the test was scored, they told him no one had ever scored that high on the GED and he needed to be in college. He enrolled in Midland Lutheran College majoring in Chemistry, Biology, and Natural Sciences hoping to be an anesthesiologist. He had a wonderful professor at Midland, Dr. Steve Bunck, who made him want to become a college Chemistry professor so he went on to UNL after graduating from Midland in 1987. He discontinued that dream and found a job in the lab at HWS Consulting in Lincoln. HWS sold the lab to Bob and Paul Mignon. Bob ran E&I Labs for 5 years then began working as a chemist at Novartis which later became GSK. He retired in 2017. He taught himself to play the guitar, built his own guitar, and enjoyed making music on his 12 guitars. He enjoyed anything computer and played many games on it. He was an avid Twins Baseball team fan. He knew a lot about many things and enjoyed helping others with his expertise. In 2019, he stepped on a nail and with the subsequent infection his right foot was amputated. He was able to walk well with the prosthetic. Bob enjoyed playing baseball at home with Laura and Keith when they were growing up. He was a proud grandfather to Laura’s children. Bob was preceded in death by his parents and in-laws, Ronald and Virginia Marble. He is survived by his wife Kathy, daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Dan Lethcoe, son Keith Sechrest, five grandchildren, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ken and Kathy Marble, sister-in-law, Kaylyn Hunter, niece Karissa and Matthew Flint, nephew Kirk and Julia Marble and great nieces Kyra and Alyssa Marble. Also, Kathy's Aunt Vernita and Aunt Deloris, his favorites.

Tributes

Robert William "Bob" Sechrest

July 8, 1957 - May 26, 2024