Robert Eugene Williams

Robert “Bob” Eugene Williams, 86 of Lonoke, Arkansas was greeted into heaven by our Lord and Savior on December 29, 2023. He was born January 16, 1937, in Carlisle, Arkansas to Marie Rettig and Elmer Williams. Along with his parents, he is preceded in death by his wife Karla Williams, their infant daughter, Kathleen Marie Williams, brother Elmer Williams, and special family friends, Judy and Nathan White.  

Bob married the love of his life, Karla on October 19, 1957, in Omaha, NE. They celebrated 64 years together. He is survived by children Jenese (Kim) Schroeder of Lonoke, Scott (Kay) Williams of Searcy, and Barbara (Lynn) Evans of Lonoke.   

Together they were blessed with 8 grandchildren Nicholas (Brandi) Schroeder, Audrey (Brian) Bullock, Beth (Brad) Davis, Bo (Lydia), Williams, Hannah (David) Kloske, Spencer (Matilda) Evans, Erica (Kiefer) Keichline, and Emily (Ladd) Rodgers.  

God gifted their family with 18 great grandchildren - Wesley, Peyton, Asher, Cohen, Jacob, Olivia, Caine, Grant, Bryce, Maggie, Anderson, Holden, Case, Beckham, Maeve, Rose, Asa, and Daisy. 

Bob was born in Carlisle, AR where he and his brother were raised by their mother, Marie. Growing up, he spent many years helping at his grandparent’s, Will and Emma Rettig’s, farm.

In 1954, at the age of 17, Bob joined the United States Air Force. He joined one day and was shipped to San Antonio, Texas the next day for basic training. Bob became an airplane mechanic for the B-29, B-50, and B-59 planes. Bob worked on the flightline his entire career.  

Bob was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, where he met Karla on a blind date.

With Bob’s career in the military, he and his family traveled the United States with additional tours to Thailand, Okinawa, and Bermuda before settling in Lonoke in 1974 to be closer to family. Bob was so proud to say that he was retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years, 3 months, and 21 days. 

After Bob retired from the service, he worked 20 years for IPSCO, later called Stevenson, in Stuttgart where he started out as a salesman and eventually retired as a manager.

Bob was of the Baptist faith as a child and grew up at Chambers Baptist Church.  When he married Karla, he joined the Lutheran faith. Bob and Karla were charter members of Hope Lutheran Church for 54 years. Bob and Karla were very active membersand they enjoyed putting on cookouts and get togethers for the church at their family farm. Bob served as an usher and the head elder of the church for many years and was a member of the men’s club. Bob enjoyed participating in events that the church hosted, including the chili cookoff – which he won in 2009.

Bob had a love for hobbies. He enjoyed spending time at the family farm, where he and Scott raised cattle as a hobby. Every day Bob would go out to the farm just to feed the fish in the pond and horses in the pasture. 

Bob loved to have a large garden where he would show off his huge tomatoes and challenge anyone if they could grow them bigger. He always had an abundance of vegetables that he shared with the community. Bob had a green thumb and could raise any vegetable or flowers. He did the growing and Karla did the canning – what a team they were. He was very proud of his flowers. He always had a beautiful yard and was so proud when he received “yard of the month”.

Bob enjoyed tinkering around in his shop doing woodwork, working on his truck and lawnmower.

After moving back to Arkansas, his Uncle Lem got him interested in taxidermy where he did hundreds of ducks, geese, squirrels and pheasants being shipped all over the world. 

Bob lived a full life. He was a cancer survivor and thrived quite well after beating it.   

A visitation will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, at Boyd Funeral Home in Lonoke, Arkansas.

A funeral service will be held at 11am on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, at Hope Lutheran Church, 1904 McArthur Drive in Jacksonville, Arkansas with burial to follow at Brownsville Cemetery in Lonoke, AR.  

In lieu of flowers the family request memorial contributions be made to Hope Lutheran Church.  

Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I will miss you, until we meet again.

The family of Bob Williams would like to thank the Lonoke Health and Rehab for the excellent care that was given to him while he was there. We are forever grateful.