Robert "Bob" Douglas Bratcher, Dad to his three children, Daddy Bob to his friends, Papa and Daddn to the loves of his life (his grandkids), age 83, of Denison, Texas passed away Friday, May 3, 2024 in Prosper, Texas after a brief illness. Visitation will be held at Waples Memorial United Methodist Church on Friday, May 10th at 11:00am-12:00pm followed by the service at 12:00pm. Delivering the sermon will be his oldest son, Brett. Interment will be immediately after the service at Fairview Cemetery in Denison, Texas, where he will be laid to rest beside his loving mother. Bob requested that at the end of services his family and friends go to City Limits in Sherman to have a drink, eat, and share stories and laughter of their times with him.

Bob was born on August 29, 1940 in Gladewater, Texas to Norman Douglas and Sue (Hall). When Bob was four years old, his daddy bought a local funeral home in Denison, which later became Bratcher Funeral Home, and thus Bob became a lifelong Denisonian. Bob attended Denison schools in the 1940's and 1950's. Some of his nearest and dearest lifelong friends are from his days attending Central Ward School in the 1940's. Bob graduated from Denison High School in 1958. While at DHS he served as president of the Hi-Y Club and was director of the Denison High School annual staff in the advertising department.

After Bob graduated from Denison High School, he made his first big mistake and chose to attend the university of texas for his freshman year of college. He quickly came to his senses, with the help of his horrible allergies plus being too far away from his mom, and transferred to the University of Oklahoma. While at OU he became a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. One of the stories he would tell people when he'd take them to OU was that he attended school so long ago that his fraternity house was now a parking lot. In 1962 Bob proudly graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a minor in history.

After graduating from OU, Bob attended the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science where he obtained his funeral director and embalmers license. He graduated in 1963 and joined his dad at Bratcher Funeral Home in the role of vice president and director of funerals. Bob joined the National Funeral Directors Association, as well as the Texas Funeral Directors Association where he ran and served in all leadership roles until he was proudly elected to the office of President of TFDA in the years of 1983-1984. He enjoyed taking his family to the annual funeral conventions both in Texas and around the country, where many fun memories were made by all. This year Bob was to be awarded his 60 year service pin at the annual TFDA convention. His children will now proudly accept the award for him.

Bob worked at the funeral home since he was a young teenager, at age 14 he even drove the funeral home's ambulance. Norman showed Bob what it meant to be a funeral director and when his daddy retired in 1989, Bob took the reins and became President of Bratcher Funeral Home. There were cardinal rules you had to follow: 1.) You must always wear a suit and tie when working. 2.) You must always be clean shaven. 3.) No one should ever have to open a door for themselves when entering or exiting the building. 4.) Someone must always be stationed at the memorial guest book with a pen and memorial folder. 5.) Kleenex boxes should be readily available at all pews. The list goes on, but it was the attention to even the smallest details that helped shape and mold him into one of the best, if not the best, funeral directors around. His dedication to the families he served, his pride in making sure their loved one was given a perfect farewell, added together with his kindness, compassion, and sympathy for their loss are some of the reasons families from all over north Texas and southern Oklahoma sought out Bob for his funeral services.

While Bob was living and working in Denison, he was an active member in many organizations, attended countless DISD sports and events, sponsored Denison youth athletic teams, supported numerous charities, and gave back to his community he loved so much. Bob was a member of the Denison Rotary Club since 1962, earning the Paul Harris Fellow award. He was a member of the local Sooner Club that would meet occasionally for dinners or to cheer on their Sooners when they were on TV. Bob served on the Denison Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors at one time. Long ago Bob was also President of the Denison Community Concert. Like his mother before him, he was a member of Waples Memorial United Methodist Church for so long he can't remember. He sat on the second to the last pew in the back of the chapel so he could quietly leave the sermon in case he received a call.

Bob loved his college years in Norman so much that he spent the rest of his life a die-hard Sooner fan. He was a football season ticket holder beginning in 1964. Don't ask the OU Athletic Ticket Office about that statistic though, as he would argue about their records not reflecting this long time accomplishment as a member of the Sooner Club. He wasn't too thrilled that they were shorting him by about 20 years and he constantly blamed them for their poor record keeping. Alas, he continued to support his Sooners through all of the good times and the bad. From our worst season of 3-8 to four years later winning a National Championship in football, and most recently a three-peat World Series Championship in softball, Bob traveled with his family near and far to watch Oklahoma compete. He went from coast to coast and up the middle with his family, fondly remembering the games he went to with his son Brandon in Florida where we won the natty then being the coldest he's ever been in his life at a Big 12 Championship game in Kansas, or taking the entire family to Oregon when we played the Ducks.

He didn't have to attend games for everyone he came in contact with to know he was a Sooner. When he wasn't wearing a suit for work, you would most likely see him wearing something with OU on it. If it wasn't on his clothing then all you had to do was wait for his cell phone to ring and Boomer Sooner would play loud and proud for all to hear. Except Bob himself sometimes, because he was hard of hearing and too stubborn to wear hearing aids. It goes without saying that Bob's love for the Sooners rubbed off on his family. He truly raised us "Sooner Born, Sooner Bred".

In 2004 Bob had the opportunity to move back to Norman and help run Havenbrook Funeral Home. Given that his daughter Allison was also a student at OU during this time, he jumped at the opportunity to move back to his beloved college town. He was truly in Sooner Heaven and attended as many Sooner sports as he could. If there was a football, basketball, baseball, or softball game going on, he was there. He even found himself at home in booth 22 at the local BBQ restaurant where he was able to meet a lot of the football players and coaches. He truly enjoyed getting to know the players on a personal level versus just watching them on the field. He made such great friends with so many people in Norman, and those friendships continued until well after he moved back to Denison in 2010. When he returned back to Denison he began working for American Funeral Service in Denison and Colbert, Oklahoma. He worked at American until his death, continuing that same level of care and compassion to the very end.

Besides Bob's work as a funeral director and his love for all things Sooner sports, Bob also had a deep love and passion for his family, travel, the mountains, and horse races. If there was any chance he could combine all of those things into one trip, he was a happy man. He spent as many days of the summers as possible traveling to Ruidoso, New Mexico. It didn't matter if it was with his entire family, his daughter and grandson, or kind friends who would take him to the mountains or let him stay at their house with them, any chance he got he would go. Before leaving for the trip, or any trip really, you had to be sure and plan out where every meal was going to be eaten. Then when you arrived in Ruidoso you had to reminisce about the restaurants that are no longer there and how good that place's food was. For example, The Hummingbirds tuna sandwich and cheese soup, The Incredibles Lobster or Prime Rib night, The Deck House corn or squaw bread, or Momma Bears breakfast. Daddy Bob loved his food, but not more than he loved betting the ponies. Every eve of race day he'd go to the local gas station and buy a program and a Daily Racing Form. After dinner he'd spend the next few hours at the kitchen table handicapping the horses for each race. The next day you knew that even though the races were beginning at 12:00pm, you had to be there by no later than 11:00am to be sure and beat the horses onto the track. If you only brought one car, then you better enjoy yourself because you weren't getting out of there early. You were staying until the last race, and maybe even for a few simulcast races at other tracks around the country. Those in the near vicinity of Bob may also have some hearing loss by the end of the day due to his whooping and hollering and yelling "Go Baby! Come on, baby!" at the horses. But, due to Bob's sweet and gentle nature, ability to have fun wherever he went, and the fact that he never met a stranger, he also had some wonderful friends in Ruidoso. The Ruidoso Downs Jockey Club staff and members, along with owners of our favorite restaurants, became a second summer family to us and we can't thank them enough for always being so kind to our Dad.

After all of these amazing things that Bob accomplished and hobbies he loved to do, nothing compared to the love he shared and the time he got to spend with his family. His kids and grandkids were the biggest loves and joys of his life. His greatest calling was the role of Dad and Grandpa, and he was the absolute best at it. He had a special bond with each of his children individually, always making sure to be there in the highest highs and lowest lows. They all knew they could count on him for guidance, help, support, and love. God gave our family the biggest blessing by granting him one final weekend with his entire family able to be by his side. The laughter and tears, stories and memories shared, hugs and kisses, and love in that one weekend allowed our dad to be at complete peace with his prognosis. He was sure to tell each person that walked in the room how much he loved them and how much he was going to miss them.

Bob is lovingly survived by: his two sons, Brett of Fort Worth, Brandon and daughter-in-law Kristin of Tulsa, daughter Allison and son-in-law Ryan of Prosper; grandchildren Brooke and husband Tyler, Natalie and husband Daniel, Jace, Colton, Brooks, and James; great-grandchildren Hadassah and Judah; sister Carolyn and brother-in-law Ted; nephews Grant, wife Jessica and daughter Brooklynn, Linn; cousin Joy Sue; and the mothers of his children, Patti and Andrea.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents Norman and Sue Bratcher; grandparents Albert Monroe and Bessie (Dillon) Bratcher, H.H. and Willie (Vee) Hall; uncles and aunts Murray and Martha Ann Bratcher, Buster and Gladys Hall, Jake and Joy Adams; and the best friend a man can have, his dog Korky.

Pallbearers are Jeff Christie, James Green, Judge Horace Groff, Dr. Tommy Lankford, Mike Pike, Rex Reddick, Fred Rucker, and Gary Shires. Honorary pallbearers are Dr. Morry Beatty, David Maddux, Sandy MacKenzie, Herman Ringler, Jim Conn and Mike Scully.

The funeral is under the direction of Malcolm Gage at American Funeral Service and is directed by Steven Furner, whom Bob thought of as a third son. The family is honored to receive the special assistance of funeral directors and friends Charles Dannel, Ted Dickey, Tim Fullen, Terry Matlock, and James Smith.

Bob specifically asked that his heartfelt love, appreciation, and gratitude go out to his son in law Ryan Alexander for the care he provided dad up until the very end. He wanted Rita and Ronnie Cole to know how much it meant to him that they took such great care of Korky and Lacy when he was in Ruidoso or the hospital. He also requested that memorial donations be made to your favorite charity.