Robert "Bob" Eugene Gheen

Robert “Bob” Gheen was born in November of 1922 in Osborn, Ohio, in the house at 68 South Wright Avenue. The house had been moved from the old town of Osborn by his parents. Bob was the first child born in the new town of Osborn.

Bob graduated from Bath High School in 1941. Immediately, he began working at Wright Field as an aircraft mechanic. Bob worked there until he joined the US Navy in 1942. If he joined the Army Air Corps they were going to keep him at Wright Field. Bob said that it would be awkward for him to stay at home when his friends and relatives were being sent overseas. He spent the war in the South Pacific where he continued to work as an aircraft mechanic. He wanted to become a Naval Aviator but that did not work out. He was alarmed when his papers were stamped “suitable for submarine duty.”

After the war, Bob returned to Osborn where he went back to Wright Field as an aircraft mechanic where he worked on experimental aircraft. He was involved with captured Axis aircraft as well as the first jets and helicopters. He enjoyed hobbies of his Cord automobiles and Luscombe airplane.

Bob and his wife, Dottie, who also graduated from Bath High School in 1941, were historians and collected many old photographs and personal accounts of old and new Osborn. They made many presentations using those materials which have been donated to the Fairborn Area Historical Society.

Bob is survived by his son, Donald Gheen and daughter, Carol Robertson; Donald’s wife, Cathy, and their daughters, Anna and Katherine; Carol’s husband, Barry, and their daughters, Samantha and Sarah.

Visitation 1:00 - 1:45 PM on Friday, July 17, 2020 at Morris Sons Funeral Home 104 W. Main Street, Fairborn, Ohio with a Graveside Service following at 2:00 PM at Fairfield Cemetery in Fairborn, OH. Online condolences may be expressed at www.morris-sons.com.

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