Bobby Randal Riner passed away at his home in Rome, Georgia under Hospice care on January 19, 2024 at age 89.

Bobby was born in Garfield in Emanuel County, Georgia on October 21, 1934 to Gladys Wilson Riner and Ira “T.” Riner. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife for 64 years, Lois Virginia Bennett Riner, and sister, Ona Merle Riner Hendrix. He is survived by his daughters and their husbands, Cheryl Lynn Riner Hodge (Al) and Toni Marie Riner Kraft (John); granddaughters, Marie Hodge Gordon (Michael), Sarah Virginia Kraft, and Millie Kraft Smith (Tyler); his great-grandchildren, a source of pride and joy, Elizabeth “Libby” Virginia Gordon, Matthew Bennett Gordon and Luca Randal Alonzo; and a number of nephews, nieces and cousins.

Growing up in rural, depression-era Georgia, farm life as a child included long hours picking tobacco and cotton. Bobby’s family then moved to Savannah, where he delivered telegrams as a teen.

At 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force, where he served honorably for 21 years. While serving, he attended Southampton College in New York. He was stationed in Texas, Washington, Japan, New York and England, and temporary tours of duty in Italy and Korea, before retiring as Senior Master Sergeant in 1973. Bobby then began a new career in Civil Service at Hunter Army Airfield, retiring in 2001.

A jack of all trades and master of several, Bobby was an accomplished jet aircraft mechanic and gifted carpenter and artist. He also was a skilled gardener, genealogist, welder, metalworker, builder, electrician and even inventor, when necessity dictated. He fashioned everything from his own variable speed motor control device to automobile cup-holders long before either item was routinely available.

Adored by his grandchildren, Bobby received the unlikely moniker of “Boobus” after he used it as a silly term of endearment on his first granddaughter, Marie, and she applied it to him instead. He proudly enjoyed and/or endured it the rest of his life.

Bobby’s faith was important to him, and he was a longtime member of Isle of Hope UMC before leaving Savannah but regretted never being baptized. At 85, he insisted on baptism by submersion and made his way into the water to finally fulfill this outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace.

He must also be remembered as a storyteller as his stories and humorous quips were legendary, oft repeated, yet deeply missed as they began to subside in recent years. His family is charged with remembering – the laughs and the lessons both serious and light, those expressed on a whim or those relaying hard-learned truths. Bobby Riner was a remarkable man who made a quiet but remarkable impression on those who knew and loved him.

Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel.  Funeral service will follow at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home. Bobby will be buried next to his wife in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens near Thunderbolt, GA.

Remembrances: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/, www.garysinisefoundation.org, or to churches: www.RomeHTLC.Net or www.DueWest.Org.