December 23, 1934 –  November 28, 2016  Memorial Services for Robert William “Bob” Roper, 81, of Lake Kiowa, Texas will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 3rd at Meador Funeral Home Chapel in Gainesville with Randy Mason officiating.
Bob passed away on Monday, November 28, 2016 at Beacon Hill in Denison. He was born on December 23, 1934 in Dalhart, Texas to Bill Roper and Bessie Lee York. Bob attended the Dalhart Independent School District and immediately afterwards, he began rough-necking and doodle-bugging in the Texas oilfields as a teenager, and continued for several years until he was drafted in the US Army in 1957. He completed his first eight weeks of basic training at Fort Carson, Colorado and his second eight weeks at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, learning how to operate heavy equipment. After training, he was stationed in Seattle, Washington, working at a missile site until he was honorably discharged in 1959.

Bob later worked as a police officer for the Dalhart Police Department, followed by a short employment with the Keebler Company selling cookies where he became their highest grossing cookies salesman during that time. But it was in 1966 when Bob found a position with the American Tobacco Company that would define the success-driven man he was. He started as a tobacco salesman in Lawton, Oklahoma and four years later was promoted to District Sales Manager in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By 1973, the company moved him to Houston, Texas. In 1980 he received a promotion to Sales Director and there he remained until his retirement in 1995.

Bob’s greatest pastime was playing golf. Throughout his retirement, he was fortunate enough to have played on many of the most prestigious golf courses across the country, as well as being a permanent fixture on the golf course at Lake Kiowa. It was in 1991 that he met Dee Lee and after his retirement they made a life together in Lake Kiowa. The loved to travel together, and from 1999-2005 they hit the road with their motor coach traveling through 43 states with close friends in their coaches, a convoy of sorts. His favorite stops were South Fork, Colorado and Palm Springs, California, both destinations he returned to several times.

Bob is survived by Dee Lee of the home; daughter, Melinda Goodnight and husband Phillip of Braggs, Oklahoma, two grandsons, Eric Goodnight and wife, Jessica of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Patrick Goodnight and wife, Brittany of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma; four great-grandchildren, Isiah, Haley, Jacee and Evelyn; Dee’s daughters, Tracy and husband Michael of Fort Worth, Texas, Stacy and husband Chris of Fort Worth, Texas; Dee’s four grandchildren, Brandon, Blake, Cassidy and Haley; two sisters, Lucille Best and Al of Wichita Falls, Texas and Barbara Fry and husband Ross of Henrietta, Texas; several nieces and nephews and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill Roper and Bessie Roper Foster; sister, Inez Roper Lowrey and brother-in-law, Wendell Lowrey.