Robert I. Gatchell, 77
Robert I. Gatchell, born Oct. 13, 1938, passed to Heaven June 8, 2016, at age 77. Bob was born to Agnes and Melton Gatchell in Brainerd, Minn. Bob and his two brothers John (deceased) and Chester grew up together in Baxter, Minn. Bob stayed there until he graduated from college, moving to Minneapolis, Minn., to work in the accounting field. It was there he became a CPA.
This is a tribute to my husband, Bob, to a faithful God who guided our marriage of 53 years, and to the group of people who supported us.
Bob, like it says in the Song of Solomon, spotted me as a 16-year-old and diligently pursued me until we were married on June 15, 1963. We desired to raise children, and God gave us three adopted children: Kevin, now 46, Jody Jung, now 46, and Keith, now 43. Our days were filled with normal tasks of raising children, parties, church, travel, as well as the struggles of life. Bob loved being a dad, and strived to be a good provider and teacher, as he loved, supported and protected them.
He did his best to invest in relationship with them, leaning on God’s wisdom and direction to guide him in raising our children, being a good husband, employee and Christian man.
In 1979, he received an offer for a higher management position at a bank in California, so we prayerfully moved our tribe across several states. He continued to be supportive of the kids in their athletic pursuits, school, church activities and friendships. Our home was the gathering place for many kids and their families. It seemed we were always “adopting” spiritual children no matter what their age.
Bob’s fun-loving personality and gift of humor and wit drew people to our home. These qualities shone brightly when he taught the 4/5-year-olds in Sunday school. They loved him as he loved them and taught them about Jesus. He also served on church boards, giving wise counsel and financial help.
One of the greatest highlights at this church was when our three kids were baptized, and Bob and I were re-baptized as a family. Keith was only 6 years old, and could barely peak over the wall.
People in the banking industry began to notice Bob’s financial expertise, wisdom and intelligence. The Federal Reserve 12th District Bank began to woo him to leave banking and join them as an auditor. He quickly became the General Auditor for the 12th district under the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. He supervised 55 employees from San Diego to Seattle. He knew his employees well. He encouraged them to do their best work, balancing work with family. He related to them as professionals, but with kindness, care, friendship and great integrity. He retired in 1996.
We moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1999 and Bob returned to golfing and his love of reading. He took up woodworking, giving away most of his creations. He served on the board of Lake City Center, volunteered at Adult and Aging Services, and enjoyed socializing with friends.
Bob’s health declined and he became less social. As the years progressed, and his health declining steadily, he was content to stay home and almost never socialized anymore. In 2008, he had a heart attack, as well as other health issues. He had a stroke on Sept. 11, 2015.
Starting in 1999, I was being called to teach, counsel, and present workshops to various churches and missionary organizations around the U.S. Bob was encouraging, willing to have me go, and even though he never said so, I knew it was a sacrifice for him to let me, as his bride, travel so much. He had always been encouraging and supportive of me. I’d been a stay-at-home mom, going back to school to get my master’s when the kids were teenagers. He sacrificed for me as he picked up some of my parenting duties. He sacrificed for his family in many other ways. He even gave up his Saturday golfing to be available to us even more.
More recently, as his health declined, I got to be a stay-at-home-wife-caregiver. Times were hard, but precious. On May 23 (in extreme pain) he went to the hospital to have a procedure to help his two fractured vertebrae. While there, it was discovered that he had cancer. Ultimately, he died of cancer, respiratory failure and renal failure on June 8, 2016. So we now rejoice that he is out of pain, has a new body, probably golfing and dancing in heaven. I know he is praying and cheering for us who are still on Earth to run our good race. We will miss him, but will see him again when we’ve finished our work here on Earth and go to join him in heaven with Jesus.
Bob is survived by his wife, Mona; sons Kevin and Keith; daughter Jody Jung; granddaughters Amanda and Emily; grandsons Kyle and Shawn; niece Beth; and nephews Dan and David.
A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, at the Heart of the City Church in Coeur d’Alene, followed by a lunch/reception at Mona’s house. A second service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016, at Christian Life Fellowship in Ontario, Ore., followed by a lunch/reception at the church.