Robert Eugene Fleming

Robert Eugene Fleming, age 64 – Bob to his friends and family – died peacefully at his home on October 20, 2012. Fleming, 64, succumbed to pancreatic cancer. He was a career law enforcement officer who dedicated his life to public service, and an active and beloved member of the congregation of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Panama City. He will be warmly remembered for his humor, wisdom, compassion, and love of his family and faith. He is survived by his wife, Lynne M. Fleming, sons John, David and Mark, daughter Joselynne Fleming Patterson, brother John Walker Fleming, sister Marilyn Carmody, and eight grandchildren.

Bob Fleming was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1948 to parents Eugene Walker Fleming of Clarke County, Mississippi, and Catherine Grace Costa Fleming of Baltimore. He graduated from Ribault High School in 1966 and served his country in the United States Navy from 1966 to 1970, first in the Naval Reserve, and then on active duty in Vietnam as a gunner's mate on the first deployment of the USS Anchorage (LSD-36). Fleming's career in law enforcement began when he entered the Florida Highway Patrol in 1973 as a graduate of the 43rd Recruit School, where he was honored with the High Pistol Score Award. He served with the FHP in Pompano Beach, Punta Gorda, Englewood, Tallahassee and Winter Park, was awarded the title of Revolver Master, and was a firearms instructor at the Florida Highway Patrol Academy. He retired from the FHP as a major in 1998 and later worked with the Institute of Police Technology and Management as the District 3 Law Enforcement Liaison.

Fleming loved the outdoors, and enjoyed boating and camping with his family. He grew up fishing the tidal flats of the St. John's and Ribault rivers in Duval County with his brother John, hunted in the pine woods of Alachua County, airboated in the sawgrass prairies of Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, explored the channels of Stump Pass Beach State Park, and retired along the waters of East Bay in Panama City.

Upon retiring in 1998, Fleming became an active member of the congregation of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, where he served as a church elder and mentored many of the younger church members. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, October 25, beginning at 10 a.m. CST at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and interment will follow in Garden of Memories Cemetery, 4035 E 15th Street, Panama City. The family will receive friends at Wilson Funeral Home, 214 Airport Road, on Wednesday, October 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. CST. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 929 S. Tyndall Parkway, Panama City, FL 32404.

Wilson Funeral Home