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ROBERT K EUBANKS
 Robert
K Eubanks (son of Fanny and Odus K Eubanks) married
Ava Wiggs and they had no
children.
Although
Robert and Ava had no children of their own they always
made their nieces and nephews feel special. They lived in
Phoenix, AZ and only visited Arkansas every few years. My
dad (Argus) was close with all his brothers and sisters,
but uncle Bob talked him into moving to Arizona several
times when I was growing up. The last time we lived in
Phoenix was in the early 60's.
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Uncle
Bob & Me
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Uncle Bob loved to fish and so did I. He wanted a boat
..... and I wanted anyone to have a boat - if they would
take me fishing. And although uncle Bob made
a good living (he was the foreman at the largest lumber
company in AZ), aunt Ava would only give him enough money
for smokes and gas each week. No blowing of the money.
Bless her heart. She wanted to make sure they had plenty
to retire on I guess. So, after he would get off work at
the lumber yard, he would come to our house because we
had a woodshed. He would cut stakes that were to be used
in staking out new homes and lots. I was his "bundler".
As fast as he could cut them, I bundled and stacked them.
After several months of doing this he sold the bundles
and bought a used boat from my uncle Bobby Carrey. Then
we spent many weekends on a lake outside Phoenix up in
the mountains fishing. One time in November we were
fishing with my dad and I was using one of Uncle Bob's
rod and reels. I was about half asleep lying on the front
deck of the boat when a BIG fish hit my line. Since I was
not holding the rod, it went overboard, Like any smart
person, I dived overboard after it. When I hit the water
it didn't seem to smart because even though it was AZ,
the mountain lake water still gets cold in November. I
dived several times with no luck before Uncle Bob
& Dad grabbed me as I was coming up for air.
Then they took me to the nearest shore, build a fire and
dried me out. Uncle Bob and Dad laughed about that for
years.
Another time he took me and Pat (my sister) up in the
mountains close to Flagstaff ice fishing. We got stuck in
the snow several times before we finally got to the
frozen lake. Aunt Ava, Pat & I, along with several
other people who were trying to get to the lake, would
push the jeep until we got traction again. When we
finally made it there, he took his shovel and beat a hole
in the ice for Pat to fish in. Since I was watching how
he did it, I, of course, said I could make my own hole.
When I finally broke through the ice, the shovel, along
with my head, shoulders and arms went through the ice. Of
course I let go of the shovel. He again had to build a
fire to keep me from freezing. And again he just
laughed about it.
He always called me Junior and I felt special. Only many
years later did I learn he called my brother Junior
too.
But he was the special one. Unbelievable memory! He
could ride his golf cart around the lumber yard without
taking a pen or paper, go back to his office and write
the long numbers of each box car that lumber was loaded
onto.
My son was named Robert after uncle Bob.
Uncle Bob died of a heart attack in November of 1968 one
day before his 49th birthday.
Since Bob and Ava had no children of their own it will be
up to the rest of us to fill in the blanks on his life.
If you have a story or memory, please share if with the
rest of us.
If
you have any information that can be added to this page
please send it to Dick
Eubanks.
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