Obituary of CMSGT R. L. Gabbert

CMSGT R.L."Gabby" Gabbert, Ret. 9/6/36 - 9/19/13 As many of you already know, Gabby has fought cancer for the last 3 years but finally had to lay down the gauntlet. He is survived by his wife, Yvonne, of 51 years; his children, Royce Gabbert and Micci Tilton; 4 grandchildren, Jeremy Tilton, Toni Altland, Austin and Macey Gabbert; and one great grandchild, Sofia Tilton. Gabby spent 27 years in the Air Force, serving 2 tours in Vietnam. His career spanned working as a Radio Technician, Loadmaster, 17th Air Force Senior Enlisted Advisor to General Brown and lastly as a 1st Sergeant prior to retiring from Davis Monthan Air Base in 1982. He followed his Air Force career by working for Pima County Corrections as a Corrections Officer, then　moved over to the Sheriff's Department as a Material Manager. However, he was just not ready to completely retire, so he started a part-time job with Reproductions, mostly delivering blueprints to architects. He quit that 5 years later, stating that Tucson traffic was, well I think we all know! Then, after a brief break, he was back at it with Meritage Homes in their office area, doing whatever needed to be done. Finally he decided to 'retire' completely and started to enjoy the freedom to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Since he was an avid bowler, he spent plenty of time in the various bowling alleys and did achieve FIVE 300 games, his first one at the age of 70!! Way to go Gabby. It is impossible to express what a wonderful human being he was, but those that knew him KNOW. His family and friends will miss him forever.