Robert Stanley Fishbough

Bob was born on July 23, 1935, in Colon, Panama to Edmund and Ruth Fishbough. He was raised on the Atlantic and Pacific sides in the Panama Canal Zone. Bob attended Balboa Elementary and graduated from Balboa High School in the Canal Zone in 1953. He then attended Canal Zone Junior College and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in 1955. In July 1955, as a Naval Reservist, he elected to serve 24 months active duty and was assigned to VX-3 Squadron, US Naval Air Station, Atlantic City, NJ.

In 1957, he attended Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau (ΦΚΤ) Social Fraternity. He graduated from Auburn on August 26, 1960, with a BS in Civil Engineering (BSCE). In October of 1960, he went to work with the US Government Geodesy, Intelligence, Mapping, Research and Development Agency (GIMRADA) in its Engineering Research & Development Laboratories at Fort Belvoir, VA. In 1961 he transferred to the Inter-American Geodetic Survey (IAGS) Agency, Ft. Clayton & Curundu, Canal Zone. He went on training assignments to the hinterlands of Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala & Belize. In 1963, he was permanently assigned to IAGS Project in Asunción, Paraguay working throughout the country collaborating with the Paraguayan government.

While on home leave to New York City in the summer of 1964, he met his future wife Rosa Salinas from Texas who was working for Pan American Airlines. He married Rosa on January 29, 1965, in Mercedes, TX. They honeymooned in Acapulco, Mexico and La Paz, Bolivia enroute back to Asunción, Paraguay. Their first child Robert was born in Asunción, Paraguay in 1966.

In June 1968, he was reassigned from Paraguay to IAGS Operations Division, Curundu, Canal Zone, with temporary field assignments to Nicaragua, Honduras and Venezuela. In December of 1969, he transferred to the Panama Canal Company, Engineering Division Surveys Branch at Pedro Miguel. In August 1970 his second son, Daryl, was born in Panama City, Panama, then in 1972 his daughter Yvonne was born in Panama City, Panama, and in 1975 his third son, Craig, was born in Panama City, Panama. In January 1979, Bob was promoted to Chief, Surveys Branch, Engineering Division, PCC. From 1980 to retirement, he enjoyed various family activities in and out of school throughout the new Panama Canal area: sports, boating, fishing, etc., at Gatun Lake and the Pacific Ocean, and the beach house at Coronado Beach. After 38 years, 10 months of federal service with the US Navy, Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers and the Panama Canal Company, he officially retired on July 31, 1997. After retiring he moved to Oviedo, Florida with his wife Rosa where they enjoyed a busy retired life. You could find Bob in the front or back yard climbing up the ladder trimming his trees. He enjoyed telling stories of the days he was in the Navy, at Auburn IAGS and in the Canal Zone.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Rosa; children Bobby Fishbough, Daryl Fishbough, Yvonne (Fishbough) Mouser, and Craig Fishbough; grandchildren, Reyna and Sarah Mouser; Drew and Dylan Fishbough; Alex, Landon and Emery Fishbough; Lily, Macy, Lance and Abby Fishbough; his brother Calvin Fishbough and family. Also, cousins Sandy Hayden, Micki MacRonald, Buddy Tester, and Betty Jane Schantz.

Bob will be interred at the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery on November 3, 2023 in Mims, FL.