Robert Wayne Brandes

After welcoming in 2025, Robert (Bob) Wayne Brandes passed away on January 2, 2025, at the age of ninety-seven, exactly halfway to his ninety-eighth birthday.  Bob was born to Leona Doyle Brandes and Fritz Robert Brandes on July 2, 1927, in Beaumont, Texas. He grew up in Beaumont, along with his two older brothers, Ralph and Roland, and the other children living on Emile Street. He spent many happy hours hunting and fishing with his dad, brothers, and other family members in southeast Texas and western Louisiana. In school, he played clarinet and oboe and managed the Beaumont High School band’s music library. Through his final days, he was fond of wearing purple because it took him back to his “Royal Purple” days.

Immediately after high school, during World War II, Bob served in the Navy on several minesweepers in the Pacific. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1946, he served in the reserves for several additional years, with extended training missions taking him to places such as Key West, Cuba, and the Caribbean.

After returning from his active Navy service in the Pacific, Bob achieved certification in refrigeration and air conditioning, but found that work unprofitable because so few people had air conditioning at the time. Thereafter, after a stint working at a plant in Brownsville, he obtained a technical degree from Lamar State Technical Institute and spent most of his working life as a draftsman. In 1977, he also earned certification as an engineering technician. He was proud that he worked continuously for Pure Oil and its successor companies for over thirty-five years. He retired in June 1986 as the local plant closed.

Bob was extremely proud that he became a member of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Beaumont in 1929, at the age of two. He loved to talk about the church’s evolution from its domed form to the present church. He served as a Sunday School teacher and took care of Sunday collections for many years. In later years, Bob spent hours each Wednesday working with Professor Naaman Woodland on the church’s historical collection. He continued with that work, loving every minute of it, until the church transferred its archives to the Tyrrell Historical Library. Bob was a student of Beaumont history and loved to share his memories of the Beaumont of the bustling past.

Bob married Jessie Elizabeth Park in 1961 and they remained happily married until Jessie passed away in November 2010. During their marriage, the two collaborated on many projects. Bob provided hours of cheerful labor in support of the Camp Fire Girls organization. Through the years, he received numerous awards for his special service to Camp Fire Girls, and the chapel at Camp Niwana in Woodville is dedicated to both of them. He and Jessie also worked diligently on many special projects for their church and were both honored with the church’s Second Mile award. Bob and Jessie also enjoyed the fellowship of the local Scottish Society for many years.

Bob was born with a serious case of wanderlust and valued his opportunity to see the places he went during his World War II service. In his younger days, he traveled to places such as Colorado to see the sights and to Washington, where he joined his brother Ralph in working for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Later, for many years, he and Jessie enjoyed their long, wandering road trips to visit friends and family across the Midwest and east coast, always alert to the next interesting landmark or Cracker Barrel. Back at home, Bob spent many hours driving the roads of the Big Thicket and those abutting the Neches River and the Gulf of Mexico to absorb the sights.

Throughout his life, Bob loved to sketch and draw. Shortly after his retirement, he decided to follow his heart and obtain a degree in art from Lamar University. He received his Bachelors degree in May 1992 at the age of 64. While earning his degree, he threw himself into the art department’s activities, and he and Jessie enjoyed many trips with other department students. Bob even ventured to Italy for six weeks as part of a Lamar program. He treasured learning under the tutelage of Professor Jerry Newman and others and spending time with the kindred spirits he met at Lamar. He continued that interest by auditing advanced courses and participating regularly in two local painting groups that met weekly. His paintings focused on nature, particularly coastal vistas, and he spent many happy hours photographing lighthouses, waterways, birds, livestock, and flowers as inspiration for his painting projects. He enjoyed exhibiting his creations and giving them as gifts, often in the form of his annual calendars or, in collaboration with Jessie, as handmade notecards. While his appreciation of the beauty in nature took him to places such as Alaska and Canada, he truly loved the nature of southeast Texas best of all.

Bob held his membership in the Masons dear for over fifty years. He remained a Lifetime Master Mason in good standing at the time of his passing. Members of the Tolerance Lodge No. 1165 will participate in the funeral service and serve as Bob’s pallbearers.

Bob is survived by two daughters: Elizabeth Pratt of Katy, Texas and Robin Ray of Hampton, Virginia and their husbands, Ford Pratt and Kevin Ray. He is also survived by four grandchildren: Alex Pratt of Fort Worth, Elizabeth Rueger of Greensboro, North Carolina and husband Eric, Thomas Pratt of Houston, Texas, and River Ray of Seattle, Washington. He relished spending time with all of them, and he and his only great-grandchild, Raymond Robert Rueger, had the good fortune to get to know each other a bit during the past three years.

Bob is also survived by nieces, Barbara Peters of Conroe, Texas, Betty Dick of Cypress, Texas, and Beverly Goldapp of Henderson, Nevada and by nephews, Rob Brandes of Fredericksburg, Texas and Bob Brandes of Houston, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers, and his nephew, Ralph Brandes.

Friends who desire are invited to contribute in Bob’s honor to the First United Methodist Church, 701 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, Texas 77701 give online or to the Tyrrell Historical Library, 695 Pearl Street, Beaumont, Texas 77701 visit online.

A gathering of Mr. Brandes’ family and friends will be from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Monday, January 6, 2025, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. His funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at First United Methodist Church, 701 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, with interment to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont.