Obituary of Robert C Gann

Robert Charles Gann June 17, 1956-January 25, 2020 Robert Charles Gann was born on June 17, 1956, in Chandler, Oklahoma. He and his mother Daisy moved to Clatskanie, OR, a few months later, where he grew up on a farm. He attended a few elementary schools and then Clatskanie High School until his junior year, when he joined the US Army. He attended basic training in January 1974 at Fort Jackson, SC, then went to Fort Dix, NJ, for mechanic training. After that he was stationed at Fort Lewis, WA, for his first permanent duty station. In June 1975 he was sent to Germany at an air defense artillery site, where he stayed until honorably discharged in January 1977. Bob returned to Clatskanie and started his own junkyard, buying and selling cars until his father needed a fuel truck driver in 1978. He transported pretty much any fuel until 1981, when the second oil embargo “killed” his job. He continued buying and selling cars until 1984, when he began to attend community college to get an associate degree in diesel technology. He stayed in college until the end of 1987 and then moved to Rainier, OR, again buying and selling cars. Bob eventually moved to Portland and got a job in Vancouver, WA, working on semi-trucks for a year and a half. After that, he worked in Portland as a mechanic and oil truck driver for another year. He then moved to Klickitat, WA, to ranch-sit until the middle of 1994, when the owner of the ranch lost it in a court battle. Then Bob traded a car for a travel trailer that he lived in until November 1998, when he moved back to Portland. He then started going to car auctions, continuing to buy, sell, and trade cars. As early as his teens, Bob was passionate about cars, and he owned more than 700 cars and trucks at one point or another during the course of his life. When he was not working on cars, he spent his time reading, playing bingo, and researching … cars! Robert Charles Gann passed away on January 25, 2020, at the VA Community Living Center in Vancouver, WA, at the age of 63. He is survived by his brother Russ Gann of Mesa, AZ, his brother Edward (Sharon) Gann of Portland, OR, and his sister Susan Reinsch of Portland, OR.