Robert Tatum

Robert Dennis Tatum, 77, passed away on December 17, 2017. Bob was born in San Diego, California, the son of Eddison Willis Tatum and Vera “Sally” Danly. Bob’s father was career Navy and was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack there in 1941. His family has the bullet that passed between he and his brother, Jerry, and hit the headboard where their mother had placed them for safety. He lived in several places growing up but eventually his dad retired and settled in Corpus Christi. Bob graduated from Carroll High School in 1959 and went to work as a welder. He went to work for the Corpus Christi Police Dept. in early 1961 shortly before his 21st birthday. During his career with the department he worked in Vice, IAD and patrol with most of his time spent in patrol. For many years his job was to write the budget for the uniform division. During the time he worked on the budget, his children knew to tiptoe around the house and never to say numbers of any kind around him. He loved his work with the department and had attained the rank of Captain long before his retirement in 1999. He met his back yard neighbor on April 15, 1982 and he and Jacci were married on April 18, 1983. After his retirement they traveled the United States in their RV and made many fond memories. Bob was also an avid golfer for many years until back problems kept him from playing. Bob enjoyed wood working and built a few pieces of furniture for family members as well as many small items. He never sold anything he crafted saying they were made with love and were not for sale. His workshop was always a mess but Jacci knew better than to move anything to try to clean up because he knew where everything was. Bob was a member of Christ Central Baptist Church, the Gideons West Camp and was a devout Christian. With his family around and his beautiful daughter Aamber singing Christian songs as she held his hand he slipped away into the arms of his Savior He leaves his wife, Jacqueline “Jacci”; his son, Aaron Dean (Val) Tatum of Texarkana; daughters, Aamber Denise (David) Copple of Temple, Tina Marie (Ken) Jones of West Virginia and Jeannene Elizabeth (Daniel) Marcheschi of Mathis, TX; his brothers, Joe (Laurel) Tatum of Corpus Christi and Ed Tatum of Houston; grandchildren, Austin (Debbe) Tatum of Dallas, Chris (Claire) Tatum of Dallas, Justin and Faith Jones of West Virginia, Jeni Hubbard and her daughter, Audrey (great grandchild) of Temple, TX, Mikayla Copple of Ponte Vedre, Florida, Timothy and Rylee Marcheschi of Mathis, TX, Layla (William) McBride of Denver, Colorado and numerous other grandchildren and great grandchildren. Bob requested donations to the Gideons West Camp, P.O. Box 260101, Corpus Christi, Texas 78426. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at Sawyer-George Funeral Home. Funeral services will be at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2017 in Sawyer-George Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Gwen Jennings officiating. Interment will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery at 2:30 p.m.