Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Robert J. Early was born in Houston, Texas, in 1982. He was known as Bobby, Boobie, or Boobers. He was raised with his brother James and sisters Brooke and Wendi. When he was two-years-old, Bobby moved with his family to Southern California. He was very close to his family and Bobby was a very happy child. He loved the outdoors. He was smart and memorized things. When he was five-years-old, Pam asked Greg where a movie was playing and Bobby chimed in from his car seat saying, "At a theatre near you." He was naturally funny.

As soon as he could hold a baseball bat, Bobby was playing Little League. He grew up playing baseball and was the starting pitcher on his high school baseball team. He was 6 feet 3 inches tall and he was a left-handed pitcher. His talents captured attention. He even played for the Kansas City Royals scout team in high school. He dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. Baseball was a game he loved so much, he played from the age of five until last year when he was playing in an adult league. He loved collecting baseball cards. He also collected Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates memorabilia. He followed the Steelers, the Pirates and the Lakers. But, he never converted to become a Penguins fan.

He had a close relationship with his family. With James, he had the brotherly love that keeps things interesting. When James was doing something ornery, Bobby would blackmail James for his baseball cards. James put him in a headlock and said he'd punch him if he told their mom. Instead, Bobby punched James and still went to tell their mom. The family still laughs about those stories of sibling rivalry today. When Bobby started driving, he kept it interesting. After he got his permit, he got a ticket for running a red light. He was giving James a ride, when his dad kept telling him to hit the brake, but he panicked and went through the red light in front of a police officer. Then, there were two car crashes and both cars were totaled. In the first accident, he was 16 when he wrote on the white board at home "I went to the mall." The mall, it turned out, was in Barstow. He had been driving his friend's mother's car when he lost control and flipped the car three times. Another time, his mother's Taurus landed in a ditch after a guy turned left in front of him. Fortunately, he wasn't severely injured in either accident.

Bobby graduated from Redlands East Valley High School. He took night courses at Crafton Hills College and West Valley College. He worked at Uncle Howie's Pizza in Redlands, as a laser technician at Hydrotech, and made deliveries for Coors. His favorite workplace was always Uncle Howie's Pizza.

Although he had lots of friends, Bobby's main interests were girls, baseball and music. He loved every kind of music from the classic Crosby Stills Nash & Young to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He liked listening to music by Jay-Z and Tupac and he knew all the words to the song "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield. His ringtone on his phone was an uplifting song from Bob Marley. Bobby loved movies and he collected VHS copies of films. His taste in films was cool and diversified. He liked funny movies such as Beerfest, Dodgeball, Monty Python's Holy Grail, Blazing Saddles, and Happy Gilmore. He loved Adam Sandler. On television, he enjoyed South Park, Married with Children, and Entourage. With a love of pets, Bobby was fond of his Bassett Hounds over the years. His mother raised Bassett Hounds and they had several as pets. He adored Flash, Fletcher, Felicia, and Nicky. And, he loved Shadow, their gray cat, who lived to be 20-years-old.

Bobby loved Christmas more than any holiday the rest of the year. When he was little, he wouldn't sleep as he was awake all night long waiting for Christmas to arrive. Even as he got older, he'd get up at 4:00 AM for Christmas. As a child, he knew where his parents hid the presents. He was so sneaky that he would find the presents, open them and rewrap them again. Pam and Greg had to become creative in their hiding spots. They almost became covert operations. All of the kids in the family made lists for Christmas and Bobby looked forward to seeing the Christmas stockings hung with care. When his parents bought their first house, he walked into the house, looked around, and pointed in the corner saying "That's where the Christmas tree goes." He was a teenager at the time, but he loved the holiday every year no matter his age. For Easter, he loved getting an Easter Basket filled with treats. That included an Easter Basket this past Easter holiday.

With his family, Bobby flew to Pittsburgh twice to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play. When he could travel, he loved gambling in Las Vegas. He enjoyed playing the slots and one time he won $1,500 while playing the Wheel of Fortune. He loved his Play Station 3, but a few weeks ago he ordered an old school Nintendo because he wanted to play the original Super Mario. He had a subscription to his favorite magazine, Maxim, and he had a huge collection of VHS and cassette tapes. His favorite foods were chicken and chocolate. He loved his mom's Mexican Chicken and Chicken & Broccoli Casserole. His favorite pizza was Mexican Pizza. And, he ate a lot of spaghetti and he loved rice. When it came to his love of chocolate, he drank Hershey's chocolate syrup directly from the squeeze bottle. He also drank a gallon of milk along with the Hershey syrup to mix the two. Bobby could eat a gallon tub of ice cream in one sitting. He'd make a mote around it and put chocolate syrup all over the ice cream. The most intriguing dish he liked to make was the Rolo Omelet. It was a mix of eggs and the chocolate caramel treats Rolos. And, he liked drinking Pineapple & Southern Comfort.

In 2005, Bobby was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He went through doctor appointments and chemotherapy treatments. In 2007, he went through a stem cell transplant with his own bone marrow at UCLA. The procedure worked and he went into remission for a year. He went back to school and worked at Hydrotech. When the cancer came back, doctors discovered the chemotherapy had affected his heart. Bobby and his family considered every option. Bobby was always optimistic and hopeful. Pam and Greg took him to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for a stem cell transplant from a donor's bone marrow in October last year to January of this year. He didn't take pills for the pain, because he didn't like how they made him feel. Through all of this, Bobby did his best to enjoy everything life had to offer. He put together huge Jigsaw puzzles with thousands of tiny pieces. He did crossword puzzles and Sudoku. He always challenged himself. And, he still cracked jokes and was upbeat. He'd joke with his family, "Be nice to me, I'm the cancer boy." It was his way of making everyone comfortable. He was thinking about everyone else. He wanted a normal life and thought he could be cured. It never entered his mind that this disease could take his life. He turned to music time and time again to express what he was feeling. Sometimes the lyrics of a song sum up our feelings and he connected to the song "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bob Marley's "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little things gonna be all right." Music made him smile and he loved singing the song "Nothing, But the Pittsburgh Steelers" by Jerome Bettis, the Bus. He sang that song all the time.

His love of sports was a constant. When the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing in the 2008 Super Bowl, his cousin Tommy got Bobby tickets to that Super Bowl from Justin Tuck of the New York Giants. When the time came, Bobby was too sick with pneumonia and his parents went in his place, carrying Bobby's encouragement with them. The Steelers won the Super Bowl that day. Bobby also followed the Lakers and when they went to the NBA playoffs in 2008, Greg's workplace got Bobby tickets to a championship breakfast with the Lakers. He was too ill to go at the time, but he was so happy when the Lakers won the NBA Championship game. He thought Kobe Bryant was the best basketball player ever.

Bobby adored his mother and father more than anything and many times, they were his strength. While he lived in his own apartment as he was independent, he also came home at times because he missed his mom's cooking and his family. He was always close to his brother James and sisters Brooke and Wendi. As an uncle, he was awesome as he loved kids. He played football with Tristan in the backyard, and he wasn't afraid to throw the ball hard. It was through Bobby's work at Uncle Howie's Pizza that he met his girlfriend Brittanee. Her family enjoyed the pizza and Brittanee got to know Bobby. They've been dating since. Bobby was always happy to see Brittanee. When Bobby was in the ICU, Brooke and Brittanee walked into his room. Bobby smiled and said, "There's my sister and my sexy ass girlfriend. Come over here." Within days of his passing, Bobby and Brittanee would have celebrated a year together.

Before he passed, Bobby asked his dad if he was going to die. He was looking for an honest answer. His father told him that eventually he would but they didn't know the timing. Bobby was figuring everything out. Bobby's parents and family always told him how much they loved him, because Bobby was their joy. His family arranged for Hospice and brought him home from the hospital. Six hours after he came home, Bobby passed away quietly as he was surrounded by his family and friends.

Bobby Early will be remembered as an amazing son, brother, and friend. With his good sense of humor, everybody liked Bobby because he could make anybody laugh. He was loved and he gave love. In fact, he loved unconditionally and made everyone smile. He was so funny at times, a major smart ass, very open-minded and accepted everyone. He was a good kid who was always responsible. Pam will miss her baby; Greg will miss his son, his friend; James will miss arguing with him and their brotherly friendship; and Brittanee will miss his companionship. Everyone in the family will miss his presence. His advice would be to stop crying and move on with your lives. With a smile, he'd still say the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals are going down. He'd leave you with the same cheer he shouted during football season: "Here we go Steelers; Here we go!" Bobby now has the best seat in the stadium.

Memorial donations are welcome to the American Cancer Society for Lymphoma www.cancer.org.

Bobby will be laid to rest next to his Papa Bob in a Pittsburgh Pirates casket, while wearing his Pittsburgh Steelers jersey with terrible towels by his side. Bobby is loved and remembered by his mother Pam and father Greg; sister Brooke and brother-in-law Frank; brother James and sister-in-law Roxanna; sister Wendi; niece Ashley; nephew Tristan; grandmother Joan; uncle Mez and aunt Bobbi; girlfriend Brittanee; cousins, extended family, co-workers, neighbors and many close friends.

From Wendi Witherell:

I remember Brooke and I used to dress Bobby up like a girl with girl clothes, make-up, and curlers in his hair. He was such a beautiful girl! I love Bobby so much. I remember playing catch with Bobby. That was really fun until he got older and threw so hard it felt like my hand was gonna break.

From Leslie Wornell (neighbor):

Bobby was the youngest of the "stair steps," a group made up of Bobby, Jamie, their neighbor Christopher and Christopher's cousin Lana. All the kids were born in May and all were one year apart in age. They played together and one summer day, Christopher's mom heard a strange noise. It was the garage door, going up, then down, then up, then down again. She went into the garage to investigate and there was Bobby, looking determined, pushing the garage door opener button. She saw the door go up and then she saw six feet dangling over its edge. It seems the kids thought it would be great fun to ride the door up. Fortunately, it had a safety mechanism that stopped it and lowered it back down when weight was on the door, much to Bobby's frustration. Bobby, being the youngest, was delegated the task of manning the controls. After all, how could Christopher's mom possibly be angry with someone so sweet and innocent looking?

From Stacy

Bobby and I were driving in his car one day when Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" came on and we sang it at the top of our lungs. Bobby knew every word. It became our inside joke and we would randomly send texts to each other with the lyrics and burst into laughter..."I got a pocket, a pocketful of sunshine, I got a love that I know is all mine!"

Every UFC party that we would have, Bobby would sit right in front of the TV. He would think that no one was looking, but when the ring girl came around and waved, he would put that classic Bobby face on and waved back at her as if she could see him. Then he would say, "She thinks I'm sexy!"

From Scott:

Bobby and I first met through his best friend, Stacy. After meeting him once... every time Bobby and I saw each other we would always embrace in a hug. Bobby's heart was so big. He always hugged and told the people that he loved them. The biggest heart a man can have.

From Timmy:

Living with Bobby was some of the best times of my life. We always had a good time, even if it was just watching a movie and talking trash about each other. Our Saturday morning breakfast trips were some of my favorite times with Bobby.

When the video for Beyonce's Single Ladies came out, Bobby took it upon himself to learn enough of the choreography to dance along with the video. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Bobby, Jason and I would often drive around with no destination in mind. We'd usually be listening to a rap record, but sometimes Bobby would put the radio on KOST and turn it up really loud. He would then open the windows and drive down a street with a lot of pedestrians, causing Jason and I to slouch down in our seats, giving Bobby a good laugh.

On my 21st birthday, Bobby and Jared went with me to Newport Beach to get loose at the bars. We went shopping and Bobby bought a T-shirt to wear out. When he put it on, it was super small. Jared and I would always tease him about his "tight" shirt.

Bobby was the best dude ever. I could go on for days sharing stories. He is so loved by every person that he ever met. I am truly thankful every day that I was blessed to have Bobby, not as a friend, but as a brother. He became such a part of my family to the point that my sisters would say that he was their favorite brother. He will forever be remembered as one of the best things to ever happen in my life.

From Jason (RuRu):

From the very first time I met Bobby, we instantly became good friends. It was through Bobby that I met Timmy and the three of us became good friends. We were like the three amigos. And as time went by, we were all inseparable, the best of friends. There was nothing that Bobby wouldn't do for me or any of his friends for that matter. Bobby wasn't just a friend to me, but he was a brother. And he always embraced me like one. I have no one special memory of Bobby or a story I can share, because there are far too many and they are all special. Bobby was one of the greatest people and friends that I have ever had the pleasure to know. My friend, my brother from another mother, I will miss him always and I love you. Your friend, Ruru.

From Roxanna:

Bobby was a great brother-in-law, he did a great job at teasing me (it was his specialty). He made me laugh all the time and smile. I remember when James and I were just dating and we were talking about me meeting their parents for the first time and Bobby said all kinds of things that were not true about their parents to make me even more nervous than I already was. I also remember my first time on a plane when we flew out to Pittsburgh and Bobby made sure he said anything possible to make me more tense. He was good at teasing me. I will miss him. I love you Bobby and I will always carry you in my heart.