Robert Lee Fraass of Scottsbluff passed away on November 25, 2020, at Heritage Estates in Gering. He was 90 years old. A memorial and celebration of life will be held when it is safe to gather. Online condolences may be made by viewing Bob’s memorial page at www.bridgmanfuneralhome.com. Bridgman Funeral Home and Cremation Service is entrusted with arrangements.
Bob was a kind and loveable soul, devoted father and loving husband to Marie Fraass (Henke) for more than 68 years. She preceded him in death in March 2020. Bob and Marie lived in Scottsbluff for 50 years until 2019. Bob was a devout Catholic who attended St. Agnes Catholic Church. He volunteered there and at the Scottsbluff Care and Rehabilitation Center.
Bob was born November 8, 1930, in Lodgepole as the oldest child of Henry P. “Bud” Fraass and Lillian Johnson (Million). Siblings preceding him in death were his sister, Joan Sherick Tallman; brother, Elmer Duane Fraass; stepsister, LaWanda Oliverius; and stepbrother, Donald Million.
As a child, Bob’s family lived on various farms around Lodgepole except for a few years in Arlington. He graduated from Lodgepole High School. As a high school senior, Bob met Marie, of Dalton, at a dance at Zikes Roller Skating Rink in Sidney in February 1949. They were married on June 14, 1951, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dalton. He then started his career as a sheet metal fabricator, working first in Lodgepole and then Sidney.
Bob and Marie moved their family to Dalton in 1959 while he worked in Sidney. They moved to Scottsbluff in 1969, where he worked for 20 years at Platte Valley Plumbing and Heating. He then started his own business, Bob Fraass Custom Sheet Metal, in 1984. He worked part time from his shop into his 80s.
Bob was also preceded in death by his daughter and son-in-law, Betty and Mike Donley of Gering, and an infant daughter and son.
He is survived by three children Bruce (Mary) Fraass of Scottsbluff, Patricia Barrickman of Scottsbluff and Robert Fraass of Omaha; grandchildren Craig Donley and Mike Donley of Scottsbluff; Katie Wlaschin (Aaron) of St. Paul, Minnesota; Chuck Fraass (Marie) of Plymouth, Minnesota; and Miranda Fraass and Ethan Kilstrom of Omaha. He is also survived by five great-grandchildren.
