Robert Wendell Fitz

Robert "Bob" Wendell Fitz, 86, died June 12, 2015 at home at Arbor Springs Skilled Nursing Facility in West Des Moines, Iowa. He grew up as the son of a Methodist minister and spent his adult life as a depot agent for the railroad, living in a number of states and communities. The common threads of his life were faith in a loving and tolerant God, commitment to stewardship in the United Methodist Church, and generosity to those in need.

Bob was born in Morgantown, Indiana on November 28, 1928 to Reverend Clifford R. Fitz and Ethel Mae Dicken Fitz. He had fond memories of a childhood in small towns in Indiana and Iowa, and summers spent with his maternal grandparents in Ohio. After World War II, Bob missed one-half of his high school senior year to serve as a “seagoing cowboy” on the cargo ship William S. Halsted. With a Church of the Brethren group, they transported horses to Yugoslavia as war reparations. He saw Italy, Pompeii, and Mt. Vesuvius. Bob celebrated his 17th birthday on the ship as it passed by the Rock of Gibraltar. He graduated as valedictorian from Maxwell Iowa High School in the spring of 1946.

He went to Simpson College with his high school sweetheart Marion "Joyce" Maxwell, finishing in 3 years and graduating with a math degree in August 1949. Bob and Joyce married on June 29, 1949 at Collins Iowa Methodist Church. The couple moved to Lincoln, Nebraska where he began teaching high school math and Joyce finished college at the University of Nebraska. The next few years brought a growing family and several moves as Bob was briefly superintendent of schools at Garland, Nebraska and then began a thirty-eight year career as a depot agent for the Burlington Northern Railroad.

Bob and Joyce raised their children Steven, Rebecca, and Diana in small towns in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas as he gained seniority with the railroad. The family often lived above the depots, using the outhouse and heating water on coal stoves to take baths in a washtub. During this time Bob sang tenor in each church choir and was active in Boy Scouts of America, serving as Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, and traveling to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Bob had a lifelong interest in American history and in the natural environment. He enjoyed taking his family on extended camping trips to the Grand Canyon, the Badlands, the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, and the Rocky Mountains. He continued to work for the railroad in Missouri and Kansas following his divorce from Joyce in April 1966. In December 1975 he married Florence Lee Rateuke McCawley in Washington, Kansas. Together Florence and Bob raised Carol McCawley, Florence’s daughter from a previous marriage. They lived in Washington and Concordia, Kansas and Wymore, Nebraska, where Bob retired. Florence died on July 2, 1996.

While living in Wymore, Bob served as president of the Library Board for the Wymore Public Library and was instrumental in coordinating the financing of an addition to it. He and Florence ran the local food pantry and organized the annual fall CROP walk. He served on various committees for the Wymore United Methodist Church and was a lay representative to the Nebraska United Methodist Conference. He was a generous donor to Native American tribes, Sierra Club, and other charitable organizations. Bob and Florence traveled to new places each year and in 1993 took a trip across Canada. In 2004 he took a trip to London, England with his daughter Becky.

Bob moved to Fairmeadows Retirement Village in West Des Moines in October 2006 and joined the West Des Moines United Methodist Church. He enjoyed senior meals at the Franklin Avenue Community Center and eating at Bakers Square in Clive.

In November of 2012 Bob moved to an assisted living apartment at Wesley Acres in Des Moines where he enjoyed participating in some of the many available activities. In August 2014 dementia and other declining health conditions required that he move to Arbor Springs in West Des Moines.

Bob is survived by brother, Thomas (Judith) Fitz of West Bend, Wisconsin; children and their spouses, Steven (Juli) Fitz of Douglasville, Georgia, Becky (Al) Flores of Des Moines, Iowa, Diana (Dave) Hughes of Midwest City, Oklahoma, and Carol (Kim) Kelly of Omaha, Nebraska and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; nine grandchildren and their spouses, Vicki Beavers, Amanda Fitz, Christopher (Michelle) Flores, Gabriel (Colleen) Flores, Elena Flores, Jacqui Hughes, Nolan (Jessie) Hughes, Sean Kelly, and Samuel Kelly; and eight great-grandchildren, Thomas and Patrick Beavers, Devyn Howard, Marcus Fitz, Willow Butler, and Luka, Carolina, and Harper Flores.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com and memorials may be directed to Heifer International or Sierra Club.

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