1SG (Ret) Robert A. Szczepanski

Funeral services for 1SG (Ret) Robert A. (Bob) Szczepanski, 77, of Killeen, will be 1:30pm Thursday, March 13, 2014 at First United Methodist Church, Killeen. Interment with full military honors will follow at 3pm in the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will follow internment at First United Methodist Church, Killeen, from 4pm to 6pm.

Bob Szczepanski passed away in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 8, 2014 after battling 40-years of chronic heart disease. He was surrounded by his loving family and the prayers of hundreds of friends and family across the nation as he peacefully went home in his sleep.

Bob was born November 11, 1936 in Sloan, NY to Casimer and Pearl E. (Spicka) Szczepanski. He married Betty Lou Nimsker on December 27, 1958 at St Agnes Roman Catholic church in Buffalo, NY.

He was preceded in death by his wonderful parents, Casimer and Pearl Szczepanski; his older brother, Casimer Szczepanski, Jr.; his older sister, Delores Hoppe; his loving daughter, Vicki Lingerfelt; , and his grandson, J. Eric Woodburn.

Left to cherish his memory are his adoring wife of 55-years, Betty Lou Szczepanski; loving daughters, Valerie and her husband, David Pierce, and Vanessa and her husband, Tony Austin; his beloved younger sister, Judith Alexander; his four cherished grandchildren, Chad R.A. Szczepanski, Steven I. Lewis, E. Wayne Lingerfelt, and Elizabeth Rae Lingerfelt; and three beautiful great-grandsons, Lucian Lingerfelt, Elijah Lingerfelt, and Lucas Woodburn.

Bob traveled the world with his family and served two tours in Vietnam as an 11B Army Sergeant and earned several medals and honors during his 21-years of honorable service to our country. He retired from Fort Hood in 1977, moved to South Florida, and returned to Killeen in 2001 where he and Betty have lived on the same street as their two daughters and grandsons, Chad and Steven since 2002.

Visitation will be 6pm to 8pm Wednesday, March 12th, at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Heart Association or the Disabled Veterans of America in Bob’s honor.

Words of comfort may be made to the family at www.crawfordbowers.org