Heaven gained a new resident (and jokester) on Monday, Aug. 8, when Robert “Bob” Fouts, 74, died at the Ohio Veterans’ Home in Sandusky and entered into the presence of his Lord and Savior.
Born in 1942 to Neva and Robert Fouts of Weston, Bob was only 14 when he sought permission from a store in Weston to buy a lawn mower on the installment plan and opened his own successful mowing business in town.
He initially attended Weston High School but graduated from Otsego High School in 1960 after the big consolidation. While decades later he could be heard grousing about the merger, on the positive side he maintained strong lifelong friendships with Nancy, Kenny, Charlie, Bud and Jack, even into his 70s.
Following the example of his veteran father, Bob served in the Air Force Reserves from 1960-65, stationed in England for at least two of those years. He was proud later in life that three of his five sons, Rob, Scot and Jared, also served in the military.
Bob was blessed to be hired by the Xerox Corporation in its early years, giving him a successful and award-strewn 40-year career with the company. He repaired photocopiers, ranging in size from small tabletop models to some that were “half the size of a football field.” He also corrected people when they said they needed to “Xerox something,” reminding them Xerox was a company and not a verb.
In 1952 Bob walked into his fifth grade classroom and met the love of his life, a new girl in class named Joyce Shepherd. They were inseparable throughout school, married in 1960, and had four children: Rob, Scot, Matt, and Julie. Including their school years, they had 27 genuinely happy years together before she died in 1979.
In 1980 he married Jenise Templin. Bob continued to practice his skills at being fruitful and multiplying, adding Jordan, Eden, Jared, and Arielle to the local population. The multiplying worked because his eight gave him 13 grandchildren…so far.
Bob’s legacy is enviable: A successful career with Xerox; being loved by family and friends for his outgoing nature, sense of humor, and his delight just having fun; the lives he touched as the scoutmaster for Weston’s Boy Scout troop (how he loved Philmont); the lives of teens he touched as the youth leader at his church for many years (who can forget those fun Bob Hunts?); his amazing self-taught construction skills; and incredible work ethic.
Alzheimer’s may have stolen Bob’s mind and life over the course of 12 years, but he maintained his easy-going persona until just four months before his death. His family rejoices that at the moment of his death, he met his Jesus in Heaven with a healthy new spiritual body and brand new mind, which he’s probably already used to make jokes with the loved ones with whom he’s been reunited.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Deck-Hanneman Funeral Home. A Celebration of Life service will be Thursday at 11 a.m., with burial to follow in Weston Cemetery. Participating will be Pastor Dennis Gugger, Bowling Green Alliance, and Pastor Richard Tragasz, Grace Lutheran Church, where Bob was a member for almost 60 years.
Friends and family are welcome to share memories of Bob on the virtual guestbook at hannemanfh.com.
In lieu of flowers which fade, please consider honoring Bob’s memory with a lasting contribution to the Ohio Veterans’ Home in Sandusky which provides amazing care to all its residents. Memorials earmarked for One North are used solely to purchase items for all the residents in the dementia wing which housed Bob. The address is: Ohio Veterans’ Home, 3416 Columbus Ave, Sandusky, OH 44870 Attn: One North.
