Robert Mahan, Jr.

Robert "Bob" Mahan, 84, longtime resident of Gulfport, passed from this earth on June 14, 2021. Bob was a true individual, full of gruff humor, strong opinions and advice. A listing of facts and family does not seem to be the way Bob would want to be remembered. He was often unconventional, and it seems most appropriate that an obituary reflect this. Bob, Daddy, Big Bob, Pops, Uncle Bob, Morris Jr.: all these he was and forever shall be.

He stood his battle with leukemia with grace and dignity, and he was cared for by his daughter, Melanie and her family. He loved his family and left them with lasting memories. Bob never turned away an extra person at the table, be they family or stranger. His love of dogs and animals meant that his home was never without four-legged family members. Old dogs, young dogs, large dogs, and small dogs all found a place in his heart.

Bob calls to mind the old blue school bus converted into a camper for trips to the river, Dauphin Island, and Destin (back when it was possible to park and walk across the hot sand to the ocean). Bob was a pioneer in the "reuse and recycle" way of life. Learning to pull the nails from boards to reuse both the board and the nails was a task he gave any young person in his orbit. While reading the Sunday papers, primarily The Times Picayune and The Daily Herald, he liked to remind his children to read the funnies. Bob loved Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines, and his children and grandchildren were often passed a copy he particularly wanted to share.

From his childhood in Itta Bena to his life in Gulfport, with many adventures along the way, Bob charted his own course. His friends were as varied and unique as he was. His briefcase of memories is full, and he was loved.

Bob is survived by his wife of 63 years, Viola Faye; his children; his grandchildren - those born into and those chosen by the family; his great-grandchildren; and a new great-great-granddaughter.

Bob would have preferred a Viking funeral pyre, but a send-off by an excerpt from Robert Frost's "Birches" will be almost as memorable:

I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:
I don't know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

The family would like to express their gratitude to Kare In Home hospice for helping to make Bob's last months easier.

RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport, is serving the family.