Robert “Bob” Auman passed away on July 19, 2022. He was born at home in Nebraska on May 13, 1930, to Leslie and Vera Auman. He was in the middle group of nine brothers and two sisters, of which only one sibling remains living at the time of his death.
The Auman family moved to Washington, settling in Winlock in 1936. The family then moved to Kosmos, where they operated a dairy farm and Bob attended elementary school in Glenoma and high school in Morton. His experiences working on the family farm, along with his love of horses, ranching and the outdoors, were the foundation for his life as a hard worker with integrity and a man who dearly loved and supported his family.
Bob married Naomi Stombaugh in November 1949 and they were blessed with four children who grew up following their parents' examples of honesty, hard work and love of family.
Bob had various outdoor jobs in his lifetime, including self-employment for 10 years as a respected and fair cattle buyer in Washington and throughout the Western United States, and 15 years as the owner of a construction business that he operated with his sons. He was well known as a talented and skillful dozer operator who built roads for the Forest Service and several logging companies and he took a lot of pride in his work. Although he enjoyed watching many sports, his favorite was baseball, and in his younger years when working for Weyerhaeuser he played baseball on the company team in Tacoma. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, huckleberry picking, farming and designing and sewing leather goods such as saddle bags, pack boxes and halters that he shared with many family members and friends. He had the spirit of a cowboy and shared that he always thought it would be exciting to be alive during pioneer times and to work on a ranch with lots of horses and cattle.
Bob is survived by his wife, Naomi; his children, Mary Jo Johnson, Roberta (Vincent) Yamamoto, Paul (Sharon) and Rick (Shelli); eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and his sister Dorothy Blakely.
Bob will be greatly missed by his family and friends for his friendly and down to earth ways, his stories, sense of humor and his generous heart.
A celebration of life will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Glenoma Community Park in Glenoma.
A potluck and light refreshments will follow.
To view the obituary, please g go to chronline.com/obituaries.
