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Bobbie Dwayne Lovell was born May 25, 1963, to Art Lovell and Charlene (Lovell) Deal in Shelton, Washington.
Bob lived a great life. From an early age, he had dreams of being a part of NASA. At the age of 6, he became totally immersed in Star Trek and could recite each episode in order. Bob finished high school in Tumwater, Washington, in 1981.
He attended college for one year and then he served his country two years in the Washington Army National Guard as a field artillery specialist. He transferred to the United States Air Force where he served for 12 years as a law enforcement specialist. While in the Air Force, Bob was deployed to Panama where they took down the dictator Noriega. He then returned to McCord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. While in the Air Force reserves, he was called up to active duty to deploy to Desert Storm, but deployment was canceled.
After that, he attended the University of Washington, Seattle Campus. In 1997, he received a degree in astronautical and aeronautical engineering.
He met Janette Radicova in London in July 1997. They were married on Feb. 13, 2000. After a short employment with Aero Controls in Auburn, Washington, as a liaison engineer, he reached his goal. He was on his way to NASA in 2000. He had worked the last 18 years (almost 19) with NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as a mechanical structural design engineer until he fell victim to glioblastoma brain cancer at the age of 55.
One of his proudest accomplishments was being on the team that was building the SLS rocket, which replaces the Shuttle and will go to the moon and beyond. His dream was to see his rocket fly. He will be watching from heaven.
Bob was accomplished at writing fictional stories and often posted his stories on fanfiction.net. He was a passionate donor to the Downtown Rescue Mission and the Food Bank of North Alabama. He was a dedicated member of the United Church of God and was baptized on Dec. 6, 2008.
The pride of his life was his wife and their three beautiful children, Theresa (12), Andrew (11) and Julia (5). He was a devoted father and husband.
Bob became a lifetime member of the American Legion, Post 26 in Powell. A service will be held at Legacy Chapel Funeral Home in Huntsville, Alabama, on Aug. 11, 2019. There will be a full military honor guard with the United States Air Force presenting military honors and Art Lovell (Bob’s father) will be playing taps in his dress U.S. Navy uniform. Donations can be made in Bob’s memory to the American Brain Tumor Association.
Bob is survived by his wife Janette; children Theresa, Andrew and Julia; mother Charlene Deal; father Art (Rita) Lovell; brothers Daniel (Abby) Lovell and David Lovell; stepbrothers Robert (Janice) Fortuna and David Fortuna; father-in-law and mother-in-law Julius and Maria Radic; sister-in-law Simona (Peter) Folk, and brother-in-law Julius (Slava) Radic.
