The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk The Passing Of A Great Hot Rodder

At 9:28 pm on Tuesday October 19th Robert Laird Warburton, age 70, died in his sleep at his home in Monmouth Oregon. The cause of death was cancer brought on by a series of poor lifestyle choices. He was my father, and one of the sharpest old school hot rodders and stovebolters I've ever known.

My dad was a guy who believed that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, along with a good supply of coffee, a cutting torch, a welder, and a bottle of Seagrams 7, nothing shall be impossible for you! By way of tribute to him I'll just list some of the rigs I remember. I helped build some of them.

1937 Chevy Coupe with Buick Straight 8

41 chev coupe with 270 jimmy

47 chevy fleetline with 261 chev motor

54 merc with ? FAAAASSST ?

53 Belair Hardtop with 56 265 ( The Mustang Eater )

57 Belair Hardtop with 283

53 Burb that went through many
configurations ending with a
really hot 327.

Nearly perfect all original 54 AD
1/2 ton truck with 6 window cab.

1966 Chevy van that had many different
engines from the original 230 to the
4 bolt main 350 that is still in it.

This list is by no means all inclusive. It's just some of his favorites. It's amazing how you realize how often you think of someone after there gone. I keeping thinking I'm going to ask him this or that, or tell him about something, and then I remember he's gone. I'm gonna miss him for a long time to come.

Boo Radley

BOO..just read your post ...so sorry for your loss, and it is true i just had a friend that went through the same thing ...very kewl dad and very close to him...but ya know what!you'l always have him in your heart and you are apart of him still living and breathing that good ole hot rodding spirit!!!.....regards...gary

Sorry about your loss Boo!

My dad has started declining and I'm realizing more and more how important dads are, even decades after ceasing to rely on them for any material support.

I'm grabbing every chance I can to spend time with him. I hope you were able to do the same.

Boo,
Sorry to hear. My condolensces.
He'll always be there with you, turning wrenches and giving advice, whether you realize it or not.
Regards,
David

Boo, Same here, I feel for your loss. My dad is way up there in years and spends every winter on the road. I keep expecting to get a phone call because he has never backed down from anything or anybody. It would be just like him to choose to go down fighting.

My condolences,
I couldn't even imagine loosing my dad. I'm sure I would be a basket case unless I saw him suffering while he was alive. Take it one day at a time, the pain will subside and the memories will take over,
Scott

-W

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I had some real good quality time with him over the past year. The docs gave him six months to live a year and a half before he died. Of course this is the same man who was told he may never walk again after crashing his 41 coupe in 1962, and then went elk hunting on crutches 2 months later!

Care to guess where I get all that attitude I occasionally display?
Boo

Boo, sorry for your loss. Losing somebody close to you is something that you seem to never get over, time only teaches you to deal with loss. I lost my mother 9 yrs ago (I was 18). I think of her everyday.

My prayers are with you and your family.

Phil

It's tought losing a Family member. I was really close to my grandpa. He eventually died of cancer, but the memories are always there. My condolences

Kyle

losing a Family member. I was really close to my grandpa. He eventually died of cancer, but the memories are always there. My condolences

Kyle

I mean tough not Tought sorry

Sorry to hear about that, Boo.

I lost my father years ago to the same type of thing...lots of years of clean heathy living (a bottle of Jack Daniels and a carton of Camels.) Eventually he ended up with Alzheimers and kinda wasted away.

Now my 30 years of hard living is catching up to me. 3 (maybe 4) heart attacks and quadruple bypass 2 months ago...I may live for another 15 or 20 years, but I sure won't have the physical abilities I did when I was younger.

Btw, I gave up the booze 13 years ago and the cigarettes 11 years ago. But the effects are still with me. When I had the bypass surgery, just about every doctor who came to see me waggled his fingers at me and demanded that I quit smoking. I'd try to tell 'em that I hadn't had a single smoke for over 11 years, but they weren't buyin it. I finally figgered out what it was. The black paint that I used on my ol' Ugly Truck had worked its way into my lungs in spite of the masks I wore. Once I coughed all that up, all was well again.

So...a word to the young bolters from an old one (my medical records stated that I'm a 66 year old male who looks mildly older than my stated age...I'm actually 57...but I could pass for 70 pretty easy.) Anyway, the hard livin takes its toll, particularly the smokes. If you can handle the booze...fine. If it's causin ya trouble...well maybe it's time to consider givin it up so that you can keep the Stovebolts alive for many more years.

Boo, I am sorry for your loss.

Boo, I am very sorry for your loss. I lost my Grandad this year which was just like a father to me. He lived down the road from me and if he saw my shop door open he always stopped to help me or watch what I was doing and if there was a car show or swap meet he was always ready to go! I often forget he is not here for a split second ,It has been hard not to be able to call him and ask his advice or call him and tell him about a swap meet or car show coming up . It has taken me 6 months to want to get started again on my truck or to go into my shop and do much of anything , but I started going to the car shows and swap meets again etc ... and decided that this is stuff that has meaning to me because of him ,so I am determined to get my truck on the road this year in his honor.As far as my father goes we have not gotten along so great over the last ten years but my Grandads death has made me try to get over the problems and attempt start over with him.

Boo-

Sounds like your dad was one of a kind. Hope you can find your way through the pain of living without him in passing on that passion for great machines. Keep your chin up mate!

Boo, sorry to hear about your loss, I too, lost my dad some 26 yrs ago,, I still think about mine a lot...good luck and best wishes to you and family,,,Fred

Boo, that's sad news, but at least you got to spend some quality time together. My Dad is close to his 80th. birthday, with more than 65 years' experience fixing cars. He's rebuilding the auxiliary generator engine in his motorhome tonight! He's been my example, personally and professionally, all my life. I'm sure I'll miss him terribly when he's gone. I've followed in his footsteps, as a professional mechanic and a teacher, and I'm teaching in the high school auto shop he opened up in 1971. My son just got into the trade, after 15 years as a factory worker. I guess it's something in the genes! Cherish those memories!
Jerry

You guys are alright! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Boo