ROBERT STARBIRD

1936 - 2017

ROBERT STARBIRD Our beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend, Robert Lewis "Bob" Starbird, 80, passed away Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017, with his family nearby, at Centennial Hills Hospital in Las Vegas. Robert was born Sept. 30, 1936, in Opheim, Montana, to Lou and Violet Starbird. He served in the U.S. Navy from June 1955 to June 1958. In 1961, Robert became a member of the Opheim Officer's Association as a site engineer. From there, Robert and Myrna moved to Socorro, New Mexico, where he worked on the White Sands Missile Range. While he was working in New Mexico, Robert was contacted by EG&G Energy Measurements to work in Las Vegas. In 1965, Robert and Myrna moved to Las Vegas, and accepted a position as a Project Engineer at the Nevada Test Site, where he worked for more than 45 years. The last 11 of those 45 years, he commuted back and forth from Las Vegas to New Mexico working for the Sandia National Laboratories. Robert was a great family man and a loving husband and father. He married Myrna Aug. 30, 1955, in Glasgow, Montana, and the couple had four children together. Robert was always a man of few words, but when he spoke everyone should have been listening because what he did say was something insightful or hilarious. He enjoyed taking on new projects, going on walks, taking daily visits to Wal-Mart or Sam's Club, fixing anything and everything and being with family. His family and friends will always remember him as the person who was always there, whether it was attending his children or grandchildren's sporting events or fixing daycare equipment at Christ Lutheran Church, he was always there. He was preceded in death by his two sons, Ronald and Donald Starbird; and brother, Richard Starbird. He is survived by his wife, of 60 years, Myrna (Hedalen) Starbird; two children, Robert (Karen) Starbird and Vickie Starbird; brother, Tom Starbird; sister, Sharon Starbird; eight grandchildren, Robert (Rachel) Starbird, Jared Starbird, Josh Starbird, Ashley Starbird, Cody Starbird, Joseph (Jojo) Vitale, Kaylee Vitale and Jeremy Vitale; two great-grandchildren, Jace and Rylie Starbird. Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14, at Christ Lutheran Church, 111 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89107, with a reception to follow at the church.