Robert W. “Bob” Madgett was a fellow who accomplished much without making a lot of noise. His family described him as an outdoorsman, who enjoyed camping, hunting and fishing. He also enjoyed being a good neighbor and helping those in need.

Madgett died August 16 at the age of 80.

He spent his entire working career as an employee of Sprint. “He began working for the company right after high school. At that time the company was known as Inter-Mountain Telephone Co. Later it was known as United Inter-Mountain before it became Sprint. He worked his way up to District Engineer and worked at the Johnson City office,” said his wife, Jean.

Bob was known for his strong work ethic, rarely missing a day’s work. “He was a good family provider,” said Jean.

After his retirement, Bob continued to work some, doing sub-contracting for Sprint as well as some engineering work in Kansas for the company.

When Bob wasn’t working, he enjoyed the outdoors. “He hiked, camped, and especially enjoyed hunting and fishing. He often went on deer hunting trips with friends to Georgia and Wyoming,” Jean shared.

Another favorite place he enjoyed going with his hunting buddies was to a shack on Catface Mountain in Laurel Bloomery.

When he wasn’t working and enjoying the outdoors, Bob was helping others. “He was a great example of a servant leader. If someone had their ox in the ditch, he helped get it out. During snowy weather, he would do what he could to help others. He’d go to the store for people and get them milk and bread, sometimes take them an extra heater when the weather was bitter cold. He taught my brother and I much about life,” said his son, Chuck.

“He drove an old Scout, and would help those stuck in the snow by pulling them out. When it was snowing, he took some of the ladies he worked with to their jobs,” Chuck added.

Chuck also shared that he and his brother, Mark, helped their dad cut firewood on the weekends. “We cut firewood for each other and Dad always had us to cut more than we needed just in case someone else needed some,” Chuck said.

Bob was the kind of person who could do a lot of things, and hated to pay someone else to do something when he could do it. He didn’t have a college degree, but he was very knowledgeable about a lot of things, especially his job.

In addition to hunting and fishing, Bob enjoyed bluegrass music and taught himself to play the guitar. “He would play a record and listen to the chords, and pick them out on the guitar. His favorite artists were Hank Snow, Flatt and Scruggs, and Johnny Cash,” shared Jean.

Bob also taught his sons to play the guitar, and it was a favorite thing to do when they sat around the campfire on a camping or hunting trip.

Bob and Jean were married almost 60 years when he died. “We had a good life together, and he was an easy person to live with,” Jean said.

She shared that often when Bob would be sitting around the house, she would ask him, “What are you thinking?” He would often come back with the replies: “It takes a big dog to weigh a ton.” or  “A 10-pound sack of flour will make a big biscuit.”

“He was a good-natured person and was very witty at times,” said Jean.

In his later years, he was unable to hike and enjoy the outdoors like he once did because of neuropathy in his feet.

Bob Madgett is one of those people who are like salt. He brought seasoning to an unsavory world.