Uncle Bob Doss passed away February 27, 2026.  Jeff texted me on February 21, saying he'd just learned his dad had cancer, the 24th Jeff went to help with his dad, the 25th they started hospice, two days later he passed away.  That's a lot to take in, experience, and process in less than a week.  My thoughts and prayers are with Darillyn, Jeff, and the rest of the Doss clan.

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     I'd like to share a few stories that involve Uncle Bob, and I hope anyone reading this, if so inspired, will e-mail me any stories they would like to share.

 

     There was a time my family went to Des Plaines, IL to visit the Doss's.  If I'm not mistaken the next few stories all happened on that visit.  Uncle Bob thought it would be fun if we all went downtown Chicago for a drive, and a little sightseeing.  He had a company car he'd borrowed at the time, and it was a huge 1970's era Cadillac.  Now I know that childhood memories are sometimes misremembered, but I swear we had 11 people in that car.  5 Doss's, 6 Hudson's, and Judy the Doss's housekeeper.  (When I think about it now, I don't see how that was possible, but that is the way I remember it.)  Anyway, Uncle Bob called a friend who had an apartment that overlooked Lake Michigan to see if it would be alright to stop by and show my parents the view.  He agreed, we loaded up the Caddy and headed off for downtown Chicago.  It was just starting to get dark.  We pulled up in front of the apartment building, and the adults disembarked, leaving 'the kids' to wait in the car.  I remember getting bored, so it must have taken at least 15 minutes.  When the adults came back, they were raving about the view, saying how beautiful it was.  My mom agreed but said she couldn't live there due to the wall on that side of the apartment was just one big window.  Aunt Dorothy laughed and said, "You wouldn't get within ten feet of it."  Mom laughed and said, "My legs wouldn't let me."  Uncle Bob got back behind the wheel, and said, "How about a trip down Lake Shore Drive?"  We all agreed and off we went.  We drove for a bit, and then we turned on to what we thought was an on ramp and suddenly were faced with 2 to 3 lanes of oncoming traffic.  We were headed down Lake Shore Drive heading in the wrong direction.  Uncle Bob quickly hopped a curb into a grassy area, skidded to a stop near a clump trees, and turned off the headlights.  Instinctively we all ducked down.  After a few moments, Uncle Bob calmly said, "Well, let's get out of here."  He turned the car, hopped back over the curb, and merged back into traffic heading the right way this time.  I'm pretty sure we headed home.  (I asked Uncle Bob if he remembered this incident, but he claimed to have no recollection.  He did say the company he worked for did have a Cadillac that he borrowed from time to time.  Maybe I have an active imagination, but it makes for a great story.)

 

     Later that week my dad, Rich, Jeff, and I were in the basement playing pool.  Somehow the discussion got around to when my dad was in the Army going through basic training.  He started talking about bayonet practice.  He said the drill sergeant would scream, "Fix Bayonets!" and everyone would lunge forward, thrusting their bayonet fixed rifles forward.  My dad then began thrusting his pool cue in various directions, yelling, "Fix Bayonets!"  We were all laughing, then suddenly went silent when my dad fixed his "bayonet" upwards, making a hole in Uncle Bobs previously unblemished suspended ceiling.  (I know my dad, he was embarrassed and felt horrible damaging someone else's property.)  Dad put down his pool cue and went upstairs to confess his indiscretion.

 

      A night or two before the end of our visit, Uncle Bob and Aunt Dorothy, thought it would be fun if the adults had a fun night out.  They got ready, and Aunt Dorothy got my mom to wear a blonde wig.  Uncle Bob had decided to fly everyone to the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva, WI, in his plane.  It sounds to me like it would have been fun.  I just wish I had a picture of them there with mom in her blonde wig.  Afterwards, one of my parents confessed to worrying and sharing that worry with the other.  "What if the plane crashes, what would happen to the kids?"  That thought may have influenced how much fun they had that night.

 

     On one occasion the Doss's had flown their plane to St. Louis, for a visit.  When it came time for them to head back home, most of the family went with them to the airport to see them off.  Uncle Bob was checking out the plane and loading his family's belongings, and everyone else was saying their goodbyes.  Aunt Dorothy was talking to mom and then she asked, "Why don't you let Mike come with us?"  I was shocked and hoped that it might happen.  I was surprised when mom seemed to be thinking it over.  I piped up, "That would be cool, can I?"  I was really surprised when 30 minutes later I was getting in the plane heading for Chicago, with the Doss's.  I had never flown before.  But what I remember most was Uncle Bob handed a road map back to Jeff and I and informed us that we were the navigators and it was our job to keep him apprised of our current location as our journey progressed.  I was kind of surprised that this seemed to be the method of navigation that we were using, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  (I'm sure it was just a way to keep me occupied, in case I was nervous about flying.)  Jeff and my navigation skills were impeccable, since we landed at the correct airport safely later that evening.

 

    When it came time for me to head home, it just so happened that there was a car show in Peoria, IL.  So, I rode with the Doss's to Peoria in their old car and hung out at the car show for a while.  Uncle Dick, Aunt Barbara, Brenda, and I think Christine rode up in the black 32'.  After walking around the car show, and saying goodbye to the Doss family, Uncle Dick drove me back to St. Louis.  The one thing I remember strongly was I was in back in the rumble seat with Brenda.  I was just starting to get longer hair then, having graduated from my regular crew cut, and I remember how the wind kept whipping my hair, which was just long enough, into my eyes.  It was still a lot of fun.

 

     On another trip to Chicago we went to the Oswego, IL to the drag strip Uncle Bob ran.  Kathy and I were given jobs helping check in the drivers.  The drivers were divided up in classes and given index cards where they filled out information about their cars.  An ID number made up of letters and numbers was placed at the top of each driver's card.  That ID number was then written on the upper passenger side of the windshield.  I was one of the people putting the numbers on the cars.  Uncle Bob was the announcer and would talk about each car as it approached the starting line.  He would read the number on the car and match it with the description card the driver had filled out.  After all of the drivers were checked in, my job was done.  I remember Jeff and I wandered around and watched the races.  We went up to the tower where Uncle Bob was announcing.  We watched a few races from there, and then I heard Uncle Bob saying, "This isn't the right car."  The card he had in his hand did not describe the car at the starting line, but the number on the description card matched what was on the car.  I always hoped I wasn't the one that made that mistake.

 

     The last time I saw Uncle Bob was at Jamie and Craig's wedding at Lake Powell in September 2023.  Kim and I were lucky enough to be asked to attend, and Jeff and Debra were excellent hosts.  While there Kim and I got time to talk with Uncle Bob and Darillyn, and even went on a pontoon boat tour with them with Jeff as our Captain.  Lake Powell was beautiful, and it was great to be able to spend time with the Doss family as they celebrated Jamie and Craigs marriage.  When the outside wedding was supposed to start it was raining and didn't appear to be letting up.  Luckily the lower deck of one of the houseboats was big enough for everyone to fit, and the wedding ceremony took place inside keeping everyone dry.  The unplanned rain seemed to have ruined plans for a perfect wedding, but instead it provided an unexpected, beautiful backdrop for Jamie and Craigs pictures.  A double rainbow.  My pictures didn't capture much of the wedding party, but I did get some pics of the double rainbow.

 

     Since the wedding, I've e-mailed back and forth with Uncle Bob and Darillyn a few times.  And we've checked out each other's family web sites.  They have a real passion for genealogy, and so do I so it was fun to hear of each other's progress.  I finally edited Grandma Cele's and Grandpa Jeffers home movies and decided to send them to him this past November.  Uncle Bob sent me a nice e-mail saying that he enjoyed watching them with the rest of the Doss clan at Jeff's house on Christmas.  I'll miss Uncle Bob, he was a great guy, and I'm glad he was a part of my life.                               

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