Robert Lynn Cheney

Robert (Bob) L Cheney was born at Methodist Hospital 1943, the son of Clarence and Kathryn (Godfrey) Cheney. He grew up in Indianapolis with three siblings: Sandra, Jane, and Richard. Bob took over his dad's TV repair business at the age of 17. He was a born electronics wizard but he loved cars. Not pretty cars, but the big, loud, V8s that would go really fast in a straight line. He was smitten by drag racing and he knew cars intimately, understanding every component's purpose and function. He became a master at everything mechanical.

After spending four years in Key West as a Staff Sergeant with the Air Force, he met and married his mate for life, Anne Frigge. They spent nearly 50 years together and had two children: Jason (Lisa) Cheney and Erin Cheney, and eventually became loving grandparents to Alex and Sam Cheney, and Logan and Mia Brashears. 

Bob's repairman skills were legendary and he was an expert troubleshooter. He was driven to understand how and why things worked and could isolate and rectify a problem regardless of whether it was a home appliance, combustion engine, electronic gadget, or HVAC system. Every diagnostic process and repair he ever made was permanently burned in his memory and could be retrieved on demand. The torque specification on a cylinder head bolt, some obscure equation for calculating resistance, or the firing order of his great-grandmother's 221 Mercury V8, it was all there. Everything he did was with a focused intensity and determination to get it right.

He loved learning and contemplating physics, the natural world, and the mysteries of the universe. He loved dogs. But when he unexpectedly lost Anne last February to an aggressive cancer, he found himself alone in a house full of memories and battling his own issues with lung disease. In classic style he educated himself on his illness, researching and thoroughly understanding the problems he faced. However, when rogue cells spread to his bones, he understood it was a repair job neither he nor his doctors could make. He accepted his fate admirably and willingly. He took his last breath on July 31 in the presence of his family.

The unique space he occupied is now a void, but his inspiration lives on and the world is a better place for the time he spent in it. He will be sorely missed, but his influence will never be lost. We know today his spirit is alive and ready to help wherever there is a rough-idling car or an electronic malfunction. He lives on in a universe that holds no secrets, and it suits him well.