Obituary of Bobby Carol Harness
Memorial services for Bobby (Bob) Harness will be Friday, November 16, 2018 at 2:00p.m at the Forest Ridge Funeral Home Chapel in North Richland Hills, TX. He passed Monday, October 29 2018.
Bob, born in Stella, Missouri December 18, 1931 was a Husband, Father, Grandfather and brother to 6 siblings-including 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Opal Harness, and sister, Rosemary. Married July 18, 1956, he leaves behind his wife Gloria Stafforini, sons James (Jim) and Gary, grandsons Austen, Mason, and granddaughter Piper.
Bob spent his younger years around Neosho and Joplin, Missouri, he and his family moved to California when he was a teenager. He graduated from Porterville Union High School in 1949. Bob was a man of many talents, during his younger years he labored to support his extended family with many jobs requiring heavy physical tasks including “fruit tramping” California and the Northwest. His livelihood to support his immediate family started in automobiles where he served many departments but eventually moved into parts support working for dealerships and companies such as Ford and Volkswagen. He transitioned into aviation support in Aircraft Parts Sales and later the procurement / logistics areas for both fixed-wing and rotorcraft. In 1981 Bob became head of his family-owned and operated company as President of Helogistics, Incorporated. Later, he also headed it’s subsidiaries – Texas Helogistics and Helicopter Components. Bob retired in 2010 after being diagnosed with dementia in 2009.
Bob was a fanatic of the outdoors, he loved camping and fishing, usually around the streams and rivers of the California mountains but especially the Kings Canyon and Kings River. He frequented trips to the upper northwest to fish along the coastal tributaries of Northern California, Canada and Alaska. An avid water-skier and boating enthusiast, Bob spent many days on lakes and rivers with his friends, siblings and/or their kids and his immediate family. He loved when his nieces and nephews visited, often spending time on the water late into the evening with them. He provided guidance and taught his sons how to fish and navigate the mountains and rivers of the Sierra’s and Sequoias. Bob loved many sports, especially baseball. He was a huge support of his son’s (and grandkids’) sporting events, especially baseball and soccer. He often provided vocal assistance to the officials of these games, insisting on mediation and fairness (tongue in cheek).
Bob is known for his sense of humor, often telling the same joke to different friends and customers and laughing as if it was the first time he heard it himself. Many customers would call daily to hear Bob’s latest witticism. He always incorporated humor even in trying times, believing you should always be laughing when you head out the door for the day.
