Obituary of Bobby Ray France

Bobby Ray France was born on July 1, 1932 in Hewitt, OK.  He was the son of William Hulen and Ethel France and was one of four children, Hulen Lee, Carl Dewayne and Norman Dale and a sister, Rita Dawn.  His family was of Cherokee Indian and European descent.  He began working at an early age riding with his dad and uncles in the oil fields of Oklahoma, barely surviving after the great depression and the Great Dust Bowl.  During his high school years, he learned to rope.  He rode in local rodeos. After a couple semesters of playing basketball in college, he was drafted into the Army where he served during the Korean Conflict.  After being Honorably Discharged, he moved to the Bay Area of California to live with his brother and started work with Kaiser Jeep as a graphic artist and doing whatever they asked of him.  Henry J. Kaiser and the management team took dad under their wing and dad became an expert on everything Jeep.   Bob married a beautiful Portuguese woman in San Jose, California, by the name of Zelda Rodrigues, on December 8, 1956.  He became a Regional Manager for Kaiser Jeep and moved to Irving, Texas and then to Chicago, Illinois. 

 

In 1968, a gentleman from Chicago named Jim Moran, contacted Dad about starting the parts and service operation for a new vehicle being imported into the United States – Toyota.  Dad was the 2^nd person on the payroll of Southeast Toyota Distributors where he became Vice President of Parts and Service.   Dad spent quite a bit of time negotiating with the Japanese on projects for Southeast Toyota. 

 

Dad was a loyal husband and father.  Mom lost sight in her other eye in 1985 so dad retired at age 51 to take care of her.  Mom and Dad traveled the world extensively and dad picked up languages easily.  He earned his private pilot’s license and loved to ride motorcycles.  Dad was a very humble man, never wanting to inconvenience anyone.  He was the epitome of honesty and truth in all of his life’s dealings.  He was a great story teller and had an awesome sense of humor. 

 

Over the last couple of years, dad’s greatest joy seemed to come when his granddaughters and great-granddaughters were in town.  He liked nothing better than holding his great-granddaugthers.

 

Bobby Ray France was a husband of 63 years to his beloved Zelda France, who preceded him in death in 2020, a father to Robert Ray France Jr (deceased 1983), Scott and Dennis and their wives Kittie and Silvia.  Mom and dad were grandparents to Katelyn, Jennifer and Colton and great grandparents of Palmer, Teagan and Jane.

 

On behalf of the France Family, we would like to thank Robert Ybarra and the team at AmeriCare for providing companion care.  We would like to thank the team at Harvest of Aledo for taking care of him when his condition worsened.  We would like to thank April and Rho from Saint Gabriel’s Hospice for providing Hospice care his last couple of months of life.  And most of all we praise God in all of his mercy, for not allowing dad to suffer.  Kittie and I would also like to thank Monsignor Publius who accompanied us during this most difficult of times.

 

Mass of Christian Burial: 11:00 a.m. Friday, November 8, 2024 at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church.   

 

Private Interment:  Hillcrest Memorial Park, Ardmore, Ok.

 

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of Jane B., 500 Office Park Drive, Suite 221, Birmingham, AL 35223.