Robert "Bobby" Thomas "Bear" Rice, born May 12,1969 to Robert John Rice Jr and Marilyn Thomas Moore Rice in St. Louis, Missouri- Passing January 20,2022 in Panama City, Florida. His father being an officer in the U.S.A.F., Bear lived in a few places as a young kid. First to Colorado, then to Maryland, a short time in California, and then settling down in Panama City, FL. He enjoyed the beach and was a part of the first ever Bay County soccer league. His team went on to have an undefeated first season. He started school in California in elementary, but then moved to Panama City shortly after. He attended most of elementary school at Northside Elementary School, moving on to Mowat Middle school, and finally graduating from A. Crawford Mosley high school in 1987. He attended Gulf Coast Community College and graduated with an Associate's in science degree in 1990, majoring in electronics engineering technology. In high school and college, he worked at RadioShack and was very popular at Miracle Strip amusement park as the roller coaster operator where he also suffered a major injury to his arm which required major reconstructive surgery consisting of permanent titanium rods and screws, he would later use it as a swing for kids to hang off of. He volunteered at First United Methodist Church of Panama City FL with the sound systems and electronics. He was well known for his loud and thunderous bass filled sound systems which could be heard for blocks around and would be used to signal when he was close to home. He started his career with government military contracts under North Bay electronics and Pacer systems, with a short job maintaining switches and facilities for disabled adults and children. Returning to civil service with Lockheed Martin in 1996 under a contract with the USAF JAMC (Joint Amphibious Mine Countermeasures) project. He started his career in telecommunications in 1998 with Beach Cable, later known as Knology. He built a lot of his professional and personal life from the connections he made while working and growing with the company. Coworkers became friends and friends became family. He was a part of the team until 2013 then moving his career back to civil service. He worked with both the USAF Tyndall and NSA Panama City with Exelis/Harris, RTL Networks, and AT&T/Perspecta. In his professional and personal life, he was the man to call when no one else could handle the task. He trained others in his ability to problem solve which seemed to be half of the battle. He was known to be stubborn but always willing to bend to be able to help others. He enjoyed all forms of humor, and his smile and laugh could change the mood in an entire room. Always a wise word and an attentive ear when needed. Bear left behind his two parents; Robert John Rice Jr, Marilyn Thomas Moore Rice, his sister; Deborah Suzanne Rice, his two children; Ashleigh Nichole Rice (Jonathon Dewayne Herring) and Jonathan Thomas Rice (Sabrina Nicole Tillis), his wife; Cyndi Jordan Rice, a granddaughter; LaLeAnna Nichole Herring, and his two bonus children; Devin Blaine Jordan, Jayden Matthew Bundy. Robert, Bobby, Bear, Dad, Grandpa will be missed dearly by all that knew him, but we are all better for knowing him.

A Celebration of life will be held at the Callaway Arts and Conference Center, 500 Callaway Prkwy Panama City, Fl. 32404, on February 13, 2022. Doors open at 12:00 pm and a slideshow will be shown at 1:30 pm followed by open mic for anyone that would like to share stories or memories of Bear. A toast for his memory will be made around 3:00 pm.