Bob died August 5, 1949, in the Mann Gulch Fire along with 11 other jumpers from Missoula. He was born March 18, 1927, in Paris, Tennessee. He joined the Army after high school and served in Japan and Korea attaining the rank of staff sergeant upon his discharge in 1946. Bob was using the GI Bill at the University of Montana where he had completed two years in the forestry program.