"In the beginning" Robert Norman Specht was born in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a degree in geology. Viola Gunderson Specht was born and raised on a farm in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Right out of college, Bob went to work for Petty Geophysical Company. He drove a water truck from Texas to Peace River Bush Country in northern Alberta, Canada. This was the start of a thirty-five-year career in oil exploration. Viola was employed by the Saskatchewan Telephone Company in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, where she met Bob. They were married in Canada.
Bob's career took him from the frozen tundra of Alaska to the Arab tents in the Sahara Desert of Africa to the Palace Gardens of Japan. Viola was with him the whole way. They moved twenty-nine times, living in many states, including Alaska, and foreign countries. Bob helped start churches in various places, and Viola studied art with well known artists and sold her paintings. Viola had a flower business in Dallas and a color and wardrobe business in Denver.
Bob was the chief geophysicist in the discovery of the oil field at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. He also discovered a large oil field off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA which has never been developed. Bob retired as Vice President of Arco Exploration. He received the Golden Nugget Award from the University of Texas for his scientific achievements.
Bob spent a great deal of time negotiating with Indians of various tribes in order to arrange for the exploration for oil on Indian reservations. He had many interesting stories about his dealings with them. They liked him and called him "Mr. High Pockets" and gave him gifts of beaded belts, caps, and Hopi dolls.
Bob and Vi were quite involved with the formation of Holy Cross and had many organizational meetings in their home. Bob was very involved with the financing and construction and the church and getting supporting investments in the Lutheran Church Extension Fund from members of Holy Cross to effectively reduce the cost of the original loan from the LCEF. Bob served the congregation in many ways; on the Board of Evangelism, the Early Learning Center, the Sunday School, LifeLight coordinator, elder, and for years as head elder. Bob also volunteered with the United Way and other charities.
Fluent in Spanish, it was a big part of Bob's life. He spoke to Vi in Spanish most of the time in their daily routine. Vi learned Spanish when they lived in Spain for three years.
The Spechts have two children. Austin lives in Denver and Jeanne lives in California with their grandson, Curtis Robert Bent.
Bob loved opera, history and taught science and religion.
Bob made many presentations to the congregation in the course of his service to Holy Cross. Often he would begin his presentation with the phrase "In the beginning"(the first words of his article), especially those concerning the LCEF loan and how Holy Cross came to have it's financing through that Fund. Longer-time members of Holy Cross may recall that as Bob's opening remark, leading into his presentations.
Many people loved and respected Bob and are proud they could call him a friend. So many wonderful memories are associated with Bob, his personality, and his tall stature. One particular memory comes from a Christmas card received in 2009 from dear friends, the Pyatts:
"Bob when I think of you I always think how fortunate I was to have known and to have worked for you. Bob, I have met and known some good people in my life but none have influenced me as much as you have. You set what I consider to be a very high standard on how a person should live and work. You were a good example to follow and I was very fortunate to have worked for you and greatly appreciated the confidence you placed in me on the many projects that you assigned to me.
I also remember a couple of things associated with our height. Do you recall our getting on opposite sides of the elevator in the old Atlantic building and our talking over the heads of the others on the elevator. This was normally good for some smiles or at least some strange looks. Another time when we went to Alaska together we checked into a hotel and the desk clerk asked if we were a part of a basketball team and you told her that we were and the tall players were coming in later."
Bob was a fifth generation Texan and wanted to be buried back home in Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School and attended Trinity University in San Antonio. He spent his last four months at the Forum at Lincoln Height Nursing Home, one mile from where he was born. Here he enjoyed speaking spanish to the staff, care givers and the local people that visited him. Bob was a fifth generation Texan and wished to be buried in Texas. He spent the last four months at The Forum Nursing Home in San Antonio, Texas, where he enjoyed speaking spanish to his caregivers, who loved him, and being with Texas people. He passed away one mile from where he was born and raised.
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