Robert James Phelps

May 14, 1938 – December 9, 2021

Robert J. "Bob" Phelps of Encinal, Texas dies December 9, 2021, at the age of 83, in Cotulla, Texas. Bob was born May 14, 1938 in the upstate town of Lansing, New York, where he lived his first 18 years of life on a small dairy farm.

In September of 1956, Bob enlisted in the United Sates Air Force and served the next four years in the secure communications field with the United States Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) Command, initially as an intercept radio operator and later, in Material Management. Shortly after his discharge from the USAF in September 1960, Bob was hired back into the USAFSS in San Antonio, Texas, as a federal employee, where he worked until his retirement in various assignments in the secure communications field of USAF Intelligence.

Upon his retirement in December 1995, Bob returned to his country roots to a small beef cattle ranch in deep South Texas brush country where he and his wife Raised Beefmaster cattle.

Bob is preceded in death by his wife, Diana Nieschwietz-Phelps, his parents, two older brothers, and two older sisters. He is survived by several nieces and nephews.

There will be a private burial in the Encinal Cemetery in Encinal, Texas at 10:00a.m. on Monday, December 13, 2021. In lieu of flowers, please make any contributions to the Encinal Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 534, Encinal, Texas 78019.