Robert Warren Wells Jr. passed away on May 26, 2022 in Winnemucca, NV at the age of 88.
He was born on January 14, 1934 in Rural Meade County, Kansas to Robert Warren Sr. and Frances Louisa (Hardaway) Wells.
He grew up in Meade County, Kansas with his siblings.
He graduated from Meade High School in 1952 and worked on the family farm in Fowler, Kansas and broke horses for a long time. He entered the United States Army in 1957, at the age of 23.
He was a mechanic and welder during his years in the service. He was honorably discharged in 1963.
After the service he worked as a welder and mechanic in various industries and various states including; Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah, New Mexico and Nevada.
Four months after a tragic car accident that took the life of Robert’s older brother, Alvin, Robert kept his promise to Alvin; that if something was to happen to him Robert was to take care of Bessie and the kids. Robert married his childhood friend and Alvin’s widow, Bessie Marie Gowens on February 10, 1966.
He became an instant father to four young children; Donna, Delila, Deanna and Dean.
Three years into their marriage, Robert and Bessie added two more sons, Robert “Bob” and Ronald. Robert was married to the love and light of his life for 54 years, 7 months and 3 days.
Robert and Bessie settled in Fernley, NV in 1984, where they called home for over 30 years. In 1984, he started at the “Onion Plant” outside of Fernley where he worked until his retirement at the age of 72.
In 2015, the two moved to Winnemucca with their son, Bob and his wife, Shelley. They helped care for Bessie, who had been diagnosed with dementia. Winnemucca is where both, Robert and Bessie, would live out the rest of their days.
If he wasn’t at work, you could find Robert tending the massive garden he had or out fishing somewhere.
He loved to fish, even on Sundays – while the family went to church, he went fishing. He always said the outdoors was his church of choice because that is where he felt closest to God.
Dad was a man of few words, but he loved to tell jokes. Most were inappropriate, of course, however he knew every dad joke that has ever been written and he always did every crossword puzzle in PEN.
He loved his family more than anything and would do what he could for any of them.
Dad was the toughest and smartest man we have ever known.
He was also a great teacher, friend and father. He will be greatly missed.
He is survived by his children, Donna (Mike) Shaw, Delila Rescorla, Deanna (Bruce) Faulkner, Dean Wells, Bob (Shelley) Wells, and Ron (Mary) Wells.
His grandchildren, Lila, Isaiah, Daniel. Donna, Jed, Wes, Crystal, Amy, Christina, Vernon, Amanda, Robert, Donnie, Chris, Kelly, John, Matt, Gina, Candice, and their spouses respectfully.
He is also survived by 45 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great grandchildren, his brother, Larry Wells, lots of nieces, nephews and cousins and long-time family friends, Rodney and Asako.
He is preceded in death by his wife, Bessie Marie Wells, his parents, Robert Sr and Frances Louisa Wells, brothers, Alvin and John and sisters, Marie and Thelma, grandchildren, Matthew Faulkner and David Shaw and great-grandchildren, Lincoln and Rylan Hoover.
The family of Robert Wells would like to send a huge and heartfelt thank you to those who took time out of their lives to chat with dad and to those who treated him with respect and dignity that he deserved.
Monty Cox and Jillian Guzman – for always keeping an eye out, for stopping by to say hi and for the treats that you brought. He really appreciated it, especially the treats, and so do we.
Ben and Family – for just going out of your way to be kind to our parents. Thank you for helping when asked and for just visiting. Thank you for showing your boys to be kind to the elderly.
Thank you to the drivers of Meals on Wheels for bringing the spaghetti he hated once and week and the “extras” that he did like.
Dr. Adajar, Dr. Musick, Dr. Church, thank you for respecting Dad’s wishes and doing what you could to keep him comfortable.
Last but not least – the ICU nurses at HGH are amazing.
Thank you ladies for being kind and compassionate to Dad, you treated him like your own family member.
You lent an ear when we voiced our concerns or listened to our stories. You laughed and cried when we laughed and cried and after gave hugs when we needed them.
There are not enough words to say how grateful we are to you and the care, kindness and dignity you gave dad in his last few days on Earth. So from the bottom of our hearts - THANK YOU! You are amazing.
There will be a celebration of life in the upcoming weeks
Then Robert and Bessie will be traveling to Kansas, where they will be laid to rest together. Graveside Services are not known at this time.
