Bill R. Robnett – January 22, 1936 – April 13, 2026

FOREST HILL – Bill Ray Robnett, 90 years old, passed away on April 13, 2026. Funeral Service: 12 p.m. Monday, April 20, 2026, in Independence Chapel at Greenwood Mausoleum, 3210 white Settlement Rd., Fort Worth, Texas 76107. An interment will follow in Greenwood Memorial Park. Bill was born to George William Robnett and Nellie Vivian Staggs on January 22, 1936, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At the age of two years old, he and his older sister were raised by their stepmother, Bessie Olena Robnett. From Oklahoma, they moved to California. He spent his elementary and junior high years in Avenal, California, where he excelled in mathematics – the reason why his father wanted him to be a Civil Engineer. He said that he was the smallest boy in his class, becoming the target of bullying from his boy classmates; this made him separate himself from those boys. He lost interest in school – that made his decision to work and earn a living. He became a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers at the age of 17 years old. That opened his love of cranes; he was a passionate crane operator. He was hired to run the big crane in Kuwait, where the U.S. was wanting to build their oil refinery. Bill worked also as a crane operator in Puerto Rico. Additionally, he worked as mechanical superintendent of ZOND, now ENRON, in Tehachapi, California. He quit after a year to do what his real desire was; he bought and restored old cranes. Like a remote control crane that could be moved to places from its upper part, the truck where the crane is mounted was operated from the crane operator’s seat, making it so that another truck driver was not needed. He changed and put the necessary things in so that the truck could be moved by an “Oiler” while the crane operator moved the crane. He also bought an old crane that he mounted on a four-axel truck – it was a 100 ton crane. He cleaned the “tail pits” of the agricultural land in California. His love for agricultural crane work allowed him to clean these “tail pits” for farmers. Upon retiring, he sold most of his heavy equipment. When Bill was a young boy, he enjoyed running his Cushman scooter. His interests also included fast cars, dune buggies, and model airplanes. In 1977, Bill was in an accident while bike riding in Avenal, California, that broke his neck and caused nerve damage; he survived this, but his C4 and C5 were fused. In 1980, Bill and his wife of 25 years divorced. Bill’s children from this marriage include: Evelyn Faye Sheir, George Ray Robnett, Allen Craig Robnett, and Eric Shawn Robnett. In 1988, Bill met his current wife, Lourdes Castro, a Filipina, in California. They were married in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Santa Paula, California, on June 4, 1988; Bill’s four children, stepmom, Bessie, and his sister, along with her family, attended the wedding. His second marriage of 37 years, four months, and 10 days made Bill think of the song by Tracy Byrd, “Keeper of the Stars”, that says: “It was no accident, me finding you; someone had a hand in it, long before we ever knew”. He preceded in death by his sister, Georgia Daharsh; step-mom, Bessie Olena Robnett; and his father, George William Robnett. He is survived by his wife, Lourdes Castro Robnett; children, Evelyn Faye Sheir, George Ray Robnett, Allen Craig Robnett and Eric S. Robnett. In 2017, Bill and Ludy moved to Texas, where his health deteriorated with age. GREENWOOD FUNERAL HOME Greenwood Funeral Homes – Cremation 3344 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth, TX 76107 817-336-0584

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