Born in Culver City, CA. He was the oldest child of Paul and Karrol Pett Valcarce. Rob grew up in Reno, NV. He loved the Reno of his childhood and early adult years and regularly recounted stories of an adventure he had with his brother Ron and Uncle Bob or experiences he and his friends were involved in. He formed lifelong friendships from his time in Reno and often started a sentence with “my buddy” followed by a name (Brad, Lucke, Gib, Mize, and on and on). Some of these friends, we, Rob’s family, met, many we didn’t, but we knew of you and want to thank you for your friendship.
Shortly after Rob graduated from Reno High in 1972 his parents moved to Perry, UT where his father started a farm and fruit stand. For a few years Rob worked at the fruit stand during the summer and returned to Reno to attend the University of Nevada where he studied journalism. Ultimately the fruit stand business won out and he transferred to Utah State University to study horticulture. He continued to work with his Father at the fruit stand and nursery known as Farmco. After that business burned in 1988, he helped create Paul’s Patch, the next iteration of the fruit stand and nursery business which he managed for the next 20 years. It was the standout fruit stand on the “Famous Utah Fruitway” throughout his tenure and he was immensely proud of his work and the landmark status it held for those two decades. For years, Rob would have people complement him on that iteration of the business. While at Utah State Rob met Diane Savage. They were married in 1980 and built a home in Willard in 1982. Rob’s greatest accomplishment in his life was being a father to his sons, Colter and Cade. He loved them fiercely and was a very protective and hands on father. From day one he was highly invested and involved in their lives and happiness. They were at his side at the fruit stand from a very young age and he remained their most influential figure until the end. There was never a time when his sons were visiting that they didn’t throw a baseball for an hour in the front yard. Rob was immensely proud of the men they have become, and he reveled in their existence and accomplishments.
Rob also had many good friends in Utah and Idaho – people he worked with or connected with through similar interests in farming, fishing, archeology, and sports. Many families worked with him at the fruit stand over the years, often with one sibling after another being employed. He enjoyed running into these individuals and catching up on their progress in life after the fruit stand.
Rob was affable, charismatic, clever and witty with a sense of humor par excellence. He was blessed with a first-rate frontal cortex and possessed surgical control of the English language. His precision for using words and ideas with the perfect exchange of phrase and nuance were imaginatively perceptive and articulate. He was sensitive and caring. He was magnetic in personality. It was impossible to not laugh while in his presence. He was forever quoting lines from his favorite movies and TV shows or offering up $5 bucks to his family to run through the snow in bare feet or to hit a “home run ball” over the tree in the front yard. He was an insatiably curious lifelong learner and there was almost no subject he was not interested in or had not invested time to learn about. He cherished the cabin that he and Diane built in the Beaverhead mountains of Idaho where he would hunt for arrow heads and fly fish in the streams and ponds nearby. We will miss hearing him call out “fish on!” when he hooked a brook trout.
Rob is survived by his wife Diane, sons, Cade (Nicole) and Colter (Alannah). Grandchildren Eli and Thomas and adopted son Petey, our three-legged Pitbull who ingrained himself into Rob’s life and heart.
Rob loved his grandchildren without measure and delighted in reloading ammo with Eli and watching Thomas’s development.
Special thanks: To the Willard first responders and police officers. They were very professional, kind and caring. To the mortuary personnel who offered kindness and treated Rob with dignity and respect. To our friends and neighbors who brought comfort in the form of thoughts and prayers, food for the body, and hugs for the soul. Extra special thanks to his brother Ron for his lifetime of loyalty, love and friendship.
Rob will be buried in the Idaho mountains he loved so much.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at Myers Mortuary.