Robert James "Bob" Flake

Robert "Bob" James Flake
Date Of Birth: 05/30/1945
Date of Death: 07/04/2025
Robert "Bob" Flake, a man cherished for his faithfulness, insight, courage, perseverance, loyalty and love, died on July 4, 2025, at home in the arms of his wife. Born on May 30, 1945, in Seattle, Washington, to Morris Clayton Flake and Ione Evelyn Flake (Fleming), Bob's life was marked by devotion to his family.
He is survived by his beloved wife of 46 years, his daughters, and his grandchildren. Bob and Gayna Flake (Poole) married in 1978 in Mojave, California, and together they had two daughters, Kathryn Plopper (Eli) and Kelly Williams (Elliott), and 11 grandchildren- Stephen, Eliana, Adelynn, Abigail, Margaret, Miriam, Thomas, Clara, Robbie, Samuel, and Joseph. Though he did not have the joy of knowing them long, he is also survived by a daughter Connie Sterling (Bruce) and, through her, two grandchildren-Erin and Jarrod. Throughout his life, Bob remained a close friend to his older brother, Curtis, who preceded him in death.
Bob's faith in Christ, unassuming and quietly held, served as his source of strength. After his father died, Bob cared for his widowed mother for more than 3 decades. Later, he endured 2 home destructions (one from landslide and one from fire), a burst intestine, a broken hip, a broken back, cancer, a massive heart attack, and pulmonary embolisms. In each suffering, he accepted the circumstances without complaint and remained faithful through prayerful and dogged perseverance.
When Bob was 10, his family moved to La Mesa, then to Chula Vista, California. He earned a degree in biology from U.C. Davis and served a stint in the marine corp reserves. As a cadastral land surveyor for the Bureau of Land Management, he was staking out the John Muir Trail when he met Gayna. After they married, he became the 5120th licensed land surveyor in the state of California, opened his own company, True Meridian, and lead four crews to record hundreds of subdivisions and parcel maps, including surveys for Edwards Air Force Base. In 1992, Bob and Gayna moved their family to Oregon where they worked together as real-estate brokers and self-storage owners. His favorite part of each occupation was getting to know people, learning their stories, and in many cases, forming long-term friendships.
Bob's interests ranged broadly. He and Gayna raced motorcycles and traveled off the beaten path-including to the depths of the Grand Canyon mule-back and deep-sea marlin fishing in Cabo San Lucas. He read voraciously, fished, golfed, played racquetball, collected things, cooked, drew, wrote humorous sketches, taught himself computer coding, crabbed, clammed, followed sports, and tumbled rocks to perfection. Most of all, though, Bob was a family man. His family will miss the twinkle in his eye as he told stories, his wise insight, his appetite and aptitude for games, his playful wit, and his steady friendship.
Not many people got to know Bob intimately. Some may not have been able to lift the veil of the reserved exterior, the well worn hats, and the cigarettes that he nearly always had in hand. Those who did know him, though, knew a man of depth and love and insight- a man whose example still speaks loudly in the hidden spaces of our lives. As we say, "Goodbye for now," to Bob, his story does not end with his death but continues in our anticipation of the blessed Resurrection.