Services for Robert (Robby) William Hammel are scheduled for 11 AM, Thursday, April 25, 2019 at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home in Haughton, LA. Rev. Tommy Patton will serve as officiant. The family invites friends to a visitation from 10AM to 11AM prior to the service. Interment will follow at 2 PM in Northwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Keithville, LA.
Robert was born July 9, 1971 at Andrews Air Force Base in Suitland, MD and passed away unexpectedly April 17, 2019 in Bossier City, LA. He was an Army Veteran who proudly served his country by enlisting in the Louisiana Army National Guard 527th Engineering Battalion in 1988 as a Carpentry/Masonry Specialist and deployed for Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990 through 1991. Upon being honorably discharged, his awards included National Defense Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, two Bronze Stars, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, Non-Commission Officer Professional Development Medal, and Louisiana War Cross.
Robert had a love for cooking which eventually let him to graduate with a Certificate of Technical Studies in Culinary Arts from Bossier Parish Community College in 2014. Robert displayed a labor of love as a volunteer with Austin Pets Alive (APA) and the Bossier Animal Shelter where he fostered many dogs and cared for their medical needs.
He was preceded in death by his father, William Fowler Hammel, III, and his beloved dog Malcolm and is survived by his son, Blaine William-Elliott Hammel of Austin, TX; mother, Mary Catherine Haygood Hammel of Bossier City, LA; sister, Janey Marie Hammel Macey and husband, David of Shreveport, LA; two nieces, Elise Marie Macey and Annabel Lee Macey; and good friend, Tracie Vaughan Arnette of Benton, LA.
Honoring Robert as pallbearers will be Michael Levesque, Steven Masson, Lonnie Haskins, Bill Edmiston, Adam Bullock, and Shermond Potter.
The family would like to give special thanks to the doctors and nurses of the Louisiana Veterans Substance Use Disorder Services (SUDS).
