Robert Howard Pickett Jr.

Bob was born November 23, 1937, in Sulphur, Louisiana to Robert Howard and Effie Theta Pickett, Sr. His parents moved to Orange, Texas during the early years of WWII and established a home for the first of three children. Bob loved 4-H and the Boy Scouts and referred to himself as an ‘ole boy scout’ in his later years. He was raised in the North Orange Baptist Church and graduated from Stark High School. He immediately embarked on serving his country by joining the Air Force. An early passion was to have an opportunity to serve his nation and to see the world. The Air Force afforded him both. The first part of his military career was spent in the Pentagon. He was so proud to have had the opportunity to participate in the Presidential Inauguration Parade for Dwight David Eisenhower in 1957. He went on from there and traveled the world first in the intelligence field and later as a master flight examiner loadmaster for the Air Force. He met his beloved wife, Aiko at the 6313th Air Installation squadron at the Kadena Air Base Okinawa, Japan where she worked. They soon married and had one child, Helen, who died shortly after birth. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War flying on Air Force Spooky AC-47 and AC-130 gunships dropping flares for bombers who often encountered enemy fire. He later transported many wounded soldiers back to the United States. He received many rewards throughout his career and was part of the Air Force’s Operation Deep Freeze Task Force in Antarctica. He also was selected to participate in the Far East Air Force’s Survival Technical Training on the island of Borneo in Asia with nothing more than salt and a knife. He later challenged himself by climbing Mt Whitney in California, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states.

After retiring from the Air Force, he continued his education at Texas State Technical College in Waco and embarked on his second career in pipe design. He went on to work with Pullman-Kellogg Engineering, Houston and later Bechtel Engineering, Houston in the field of plant design and piping for nuclear power plants, oil, and chemical companies as a lead design supervisor.

Throughout his life he also maintained a love of cars and the outdoors. He loved hunting with his brother, Arthur and special friends Henry and Marianne. He took pride in his big game awards for Mule Deer, American Elk, Antelope, Pronghorns, Turkeys, and Bobcats to name a few. His home was full of taxidermy. His pastime for cars found him restoring his 1969 Mercury Cougar with the help of his special friends Vic and Amy.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents; Robert and Effie Pickett, Sr, his loving wife of 64 years, Aiko, and his daughter, Helen. He is survived by his brother, Arthur Gene Pickett of Orange, his sister, Betty Parsons and husband Loren of Bryan-College Station, niece Ashley Coggins and husband Jason and great nephew Sam Coggins of Houston.

The family wishes to especially thank all his neighbors for many years of friendship, love, and support. In addition, a special thank you to all his doctors who took care of him throughout his later years of illness, Post-Health Home Care, All-Around-Care and their wonderful and amazing caregivers and Heart to Heart In-Home Hospice Care for their compassion in caring for Bob the last few days of his life.

A celebration of life for Robert (Bob) will be held Friday, November 8, 2024, at 11:00 AM followed by a reception at Kingwood Funeral Home, 22800 Highway 59 North, Kingwood, TX 77339. Internment will take place at 2:00 PM at Houston National Cemetery.