Robert Casteel Ford

Bob was born in Arcadia Florida in March 17, 1933, son of the late Robert & Dorothy, nee Russ, Ford. When he was about 14 years old they moved to Leesburg Florida when he attended the high school there.

He graduated in 1951 and attended Florida State University graduating in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in business, school of insurance and real estate.

They were drafting at that time so he decided to volunteer for the draft.  In 1951 he was sent to Fort Riley Kansas.  There he began training as a tank gunner and was sent to Camp Irwin CA in the Mohave Desert.  He had intensive training in gunnery and earned the sharpshooter medal for accuracy.  In late 1955 their division was transported to replace the 1st Infantry Division in Germany.  They were transported by ships and then by train to Kitzingen Germany which is near Wurzburg.  It took 10 days for the ship to reach Rotterdam Holland.  While there, the Unit, 62nd tank battalion were involved in exercises in war games where they were the enemy attacking other tanks and troops.  They used, of course, blank ammo.  Bob was the tank gunner with 90mm tank guns.  He thought it was lots of fun.  He was medically discharged by the Army on May 8, 1957.

He decided to relocate to West Palm Beach FL and began working with the Florida State Turnpike Authority working in the data processing department.  It was a very interesting job using new techniques at that time before the days of modern computers.

In 1960 he was able to find a job in Tallahassee with the Florida International Commission, now the Florida Department of Commerce.  His title was Statistician/Program Analyst working in various fields.  

A few years later he met Carolyn (Kitten) Colbert, at Florida State University and they began to date.  They married in 1962 and had 3 children, Elizabeth, Jeffrey, and Stephanie.

He was offered a job with the Department of Labor in 1968 as Survey Statistician and ended up working for them in Denver Colorado retiring in 1996 with 28 years of Federal service and 2 years of military giving him 30 years of Federal service.

He was predeceased by a son, Robert Ford and sister, Patricia.  He is survived by his first wife, Carolyn, second wife Katie, and third wife Joan and special friend Lee. He is also survived by 4 children, Elizabeth Laguna, Jeffrey Ford, Stephanie Stevens (Dwayne) and Chris Ford, 4 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild.  He is also survived by a nephew, Bill Lee (Jen) and a multitude of friends.  

He will be cremated and buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Arcadia, FL next to his Mother and Father as well as his sister, Patricia.

A Memorial of Bob’s life will be scheduled at a later date.

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