Bobby Gene Shackelford

Bobby Gene Shackelford did not go gently into that goodnight, as Dylan Thomas implored his father in the famous poem, but indeed raged against the dying of the light. He passed away December 2, 2020 after fighting a valiant battle against the ravages of Covid-19. He was 88-years-young, and dearly loved. Born in Magic City, TX in 1932, he was working as a store clerk at the 7-11 Store #25 in Dallas, when, at age 15, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy using an altered birth date from the family Bible. He deployed on the USS Philippine Sea and was sent to the Korean Peninsula at the outbreak of the Korean War. As part of “Fighter Squadron 113”, he was a mechanic for the aircraft that flew in support of United Nations ground troops, first during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter and then during the Inchon Landings and the Second Battle of Seoul. He often wept as he recounted standing on the deck of the ship waiting and waiting for the return of the fighter pilots he knew so well, until alas, he realized they would not return, but were lost in the sea. Those brave men, all the men he served with really, stayed in his heart for the remainder of his life. He was most proud of serving his country in the U.S. Navy than of anything else he would go on to do in his life. Bobby worked for Standard Brands, later Nabisco Brands, for the bulk of his life. Upon retirement he worked for a couple of other businesses before fully retiring, getting tired of hanging around the house, and ultimately driving a school bus for Mabank ISD before being diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.He spent the last three years of his life in the Kaufman Healthcare Center, where he contracted Covid-19 during a massive outbreak of the disease. He loved God, country and his family and was particularly close to his brother, Bill, who would move to Mabank to live right around the corner from him. He was preceded in death by the love of his life and wife of 52 years, Helen Cooke Shackelford, his son Charles Shackelford, and his parents, Joseph Shackelford and Ellen Grissom. He is survived by brother Bill Shackelford, sisters, Donna Harder and Mary Anne Miller, daughter Deb Bomer and husband Rick, son Larry Shackelford, daughter Sharon Kertz and husband Kevin, daughter Carol Countryman and husband Steve, eleven grandchildren and numerous greatgrandchildren. The family would like to thank the wonderful nursing staff that took care of him and comforted him in his final days at the Jacksonville Healthcare Center Covid Unit. The family asks for prayers for all the healthcare workers who put their lives on the line daily to take care of those suffering from Covid-19.