Robert Burdette “Bob” Tomes passed away on October 11, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 27, 1945, and raised in Schuyler, Nebraska, by his parents, Dr. Rudolph Rainold Tomes and Roma Faltys. He married Barbara Utter on May 30, 1981, in Denton, Texas.
Bob was blessed with a full and eventful life fueled by his love for family, travel, and adventure. Known as “Mr. McKinney,” he had an intense interest in all people, which made him a loyal and good friend to everyone he met. He graduated in June 1968 from The University of Nebraska in Lincoln and volunteered to join the Army in August 1968. Bob was ordered to Vietnam and served in the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV). His decorations include the Parachute Badge and Bronze Star for Meritorious Service. He returned from Vietnam in January 1972 after completing 18 months of overseas duty and was honorably discharged.
Employed with Ford Motor Company in Omaha, Nebraska, Bob was promoted to Houston in early 1978. While working in the Ford Houston District Office, Bob met the love of his life, Barbara Utter. Bob and Barbara moved to McKinney, Texas, when they opened Bob Tomes Ford on January 17, 1983. Together, they welcomed their son, Brandon Robert Tomes, in December 1984.
Bob was actively involved in the community. In 1991, Bob and Barbara were named Citizens of the Year by the McKinney Chamber, and Bob Tomes Ford was named Large Business of the Year in 2001; in 2018, they received Baylor University’s Texas Large Family Business of the Year Award, three awards he was always very proud of. In 2004, Bob received The Silver Beaver Award presented by the Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the highest award in scouting. He volunteered much of his time as a proud member of many local organizations. Bob was Past President of the McKinney Rotary Club, Board Member for the Texas Automobile Dealers Association, and Board of Director member for Dallas New Car Dealers Association, the McKinney Way (past chairman), Volunteer McKinney Center, McKinney Police and Firefighters Support, past Chairman of the Board of the McKinney Chamber of Commerce, and a Lifetime Member of the American Legion.
As leader of Tomes Auto Group, the Tomes family has been actively involved in supporting multiple philanthropies, including the McKinney Education Foundation, ManeGait, Samaritan Inn, Boys and Girls Club, the building of the Federally Funded Health Care Facility, Community Health Clinic of Collin County. Also, the McKinney Chamber of Commerce, the Heritage Guild, the Heard-Criag Arts, the First United Methodist Church, and various other organizations, too many to list individually. Bob was a five-year member of the Board of directors for the McKinney Economic Development Corporation.
Beginning in 1999, Bob and a group of other McKinney businessmen started the McKinney Corps of Discovery group, which kept his heart full of adventure. Over the next 25 years, they would take more than 19 trips, visiting six of the seven continents. Perhaps the most impressive is their inaugural trip when the group summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, the continent’s highest peak at 19,341 feet.
Aside from all of his professional accomplishments, the thing he loved the most in life was being with family. He was a loving “Bobo” to his three grandchildren, whom he loved so much.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara; a son, Brandon, and wife, Stephanie; grandchildren Evie, Emmett, and Carson, all of McKinney, Texas; and one sister, Mary Louise Tomes, of Schuyler, Nebraska.
Memorials may be made to the Bob and Barbara Tomes Endowment of the McKinney Education Foundation or the First United Methodist Church of McKinney.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at First United Methodist Church, 315 Church Street, McKinney, Texas. Burial will be at Ridgeview Memorial Park, Allen, Texas.
The family will receive friends during a visitation on Tuesday evening from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home at 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas 75013.