Robert Elisha Couch

Obituary

Robert Couch

Robert Elisha Couch, a beloved family man, Civil Engineer, and nonprofit leader passed away due to complications of Alzheimer's Disease on April 17th in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 84.

Robert lived his faith in action, in the service of others. He was a man of deeds before words. He always put others first, taking care of his parents, wife, children, grandchildren, colleagues, and his community. Robert was at home in his native Texas and in the many locations where he worked around the world. He answered to many names: to his mother, sister, and wife he was Robert, to colleagues he was Bob, to his children he was Dad, to the grandkids he was Poppa.

Robert was born in Galveston, Texas on October 6, 1941. His father, Grover Couch, was a welder at Todd Shipyards in Galveston during the war, and his mother Lorene Couch worked as a bookkeeper. The young family relocated after the war to Kirbyville, Texas where together they built a shoe, clothing and shoe & saddle repair business known as the City Shoe Shop.

Robert spoke fondly of growing up in Kirbyville, enjoying fellowship with his mother's family who lived in that area. He was a standout student and athlete at Kirbyville schools, playing football, basketball and baseball. He graduated from Kirbyville High School in 1960. He enrolled at Lamar Tech in Beaumont, Texas to study Civil Engineering and play football. He later recollected that after about a year at school he decided he would have to pick one, so he picked engineering. This proved to be a solid decision.

Robert met his partner for life, Carolyn McCormick Couch, at Lamar Tech on a blind date. They were married in Orange, Texas on May 31, 1963. Their loving marriage lasted 62 years.

Robert graduated from Lamar Tech in 1964, and began his career with Phillips Petroleum later that year. He worked his entire career of 35 years with Phillips. During the 60's Robert gained practical and leadership experience working on construction projects for the company at the Sweeny Refinery, the Echo Plant in Orange Texas, and Adams Terminal in Houston. In 1967, the couple's son Keith was born in Sweeny, Texas.

In 1971, Robert and Carolyn undertook one of the great adventures of their lives when they moved to Stavanger, Norway. Stavanger in those days was a fishing port, not yet the oil hub for the North Sea that it would later become. Robert served as Construction Engineer for the one-million barrel crude oil storage tank needed for the Ekofisk Field, Norway's first major offshore development. The Ekofisk 2/4 T facility was a historic structure, the world's first concrete offshore oil platform. Robert was soon deeply involved in this work at Jåttåvågen, on a fjord near Stavanger, coordinating the work of Phillips personnel along with French and Norwegian engineering companies and contractors. The project received international attention, and at one point Robert hosted some Fleet Street journalists from London who wrote him up as a "Long Tall Texan". These clippings later brought his family much mirth. In 1972, the couple's daughter Sonja was born in Stavanger.

At 2:15 AM on June 21, 1973, one of the largest marine operations in history to that time began as 6 mighty tugboats fired up their engines and began towing "The Tank" through the fjords and out to the Ekofisk Field in the North Sea. Robert was on board The Tank for this journey and his family watched from the shore with some trepidation and pride. In later years he loved to explain the buoyancy principles that allowed such a massive concrete structure to make this journey. He also loved to recount the headline from the local newspaper, the Stavanger Aftenblad, "It Floats!"

Robert served as Construction Superintendent for the offshore and onshore work necessary to commission The Tank at Ekofisk Field and bring the facility online. This was pioneering infrastructure work performed under challenging and often dangerous conditions. During this time Robert served as the Scoutmaster for the Cub Scout Pack for the growing American community in Stavanger, and the family were founding members of the North Sea Baptist Church. Carolyn was the ringleader at establishing the first kindergarten at Stavanger American School to get Keith out of the house. The family enjoyed the many outdoor activities available in that beautiful country including cross-country skiing, hiking, camping, fishing, and golfing under the midnight sun. Driving trips to Europe including across East Germany to West Berlin are treasured memories from this time.

In 1978 the family relocated back to Sweeny Texas, and then moved to London, England in 1980. Robert worked on a variety of challenges during this period including early development of facilities in Ivory Coast, West Africa and new facilities in the UK sector of the North Sea. The family relished the opportunities for travel throughout the UK, Europe and North Africa.

The later years of Robert's career saw him working in leadership in corporate engineering roles in Bartlesville, Oklahoma where he enjoyed deepening the relationships built across many years in Phillips. Robert worked on enhancements to Phillips' LNG infrastructure in Alaska. Robert and Carolyn enjoyed one last overseas posting in Singapore in the late nineties, where Robert oversaw development of a polyethylene plant. Robert was a registered Professional Engineer in Texas and Oklahoma.

Robert retired from Phillips Petroleum in 1999, and the couple settled in Sugar Land, Texas. When asked what he was going to do, he commented "I'll walk for about 10 years, and after that I'll ride a cart." But retirement brought much more than golf. Through his church, Sugar Land Baptist, he found his way to volunteering at an interfaith food bank, East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry. The nonprofit's scope and mission grew during this time and Robert took on a variety of roles, culminating in two terms as the board president. He oversaw the design and construction of a new warehouse and office space that served as the center of food distribution operations, and the remodeling of the legacy space to serve as a resale shop. He later oversaw maintenance of these facilities, including clambering on the roof for far longer than seemed prudent to some family members.

Robert and Carolyn's world grew during this time, with grandchildren Regan Murrell, Joshua Murrell, Luke Murrell, Carrie Couch and Lily Couch joining the family. They greatly enjoyed hosting the kids at their place in Sugar Land and travelling to Oklahoma and Maryland to be with them. It was their joy to host the family on trips to the parks in Orlando, Florida and Hawaii, and to go fishing, ride in golf carts, ramble in old cars, make ice cream, and generally have good old-fashioned fun. Robert took great interest in securing the education of this new generation of the family.

Robert served as a deacon at North Sea Baptist Church in Stavanger, First Baptist Church in Sweeny, The American Church in London, First Baptist Church in Bartlesville, International Baptist Church of Singapore, and Sugar Land Baptist Church.

Robert enjoyed himself in retirement with a variety of passions, including vintage Chevrolets, golf and the Houston Astros. He began collecting the old cars and found he had to have a variety of vintages and engine configurations to be able to participate in each and every one of the car tours run by the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America and its local chapter, the San Jacinto region. His collection grew to include a 1927 Sport Cabriolet, 1932 Deluxe Convertible, a 1941 Fleetline Sedan, a 1957 BelAir four-door hardtop, and a 1966 Impala Super Sport. Robert and Carolyn loved making new friends and travelling all over the United States in these beloved cars.

Robert's love of the Astros began in 1962 when they were known as the Colt 45's and played in the steamy outdoors of the Houston summer. Carolyn stuck with him despite the conditions (and bad baseball) he exposed them to at these early games, or this whole story may have come out a lot differently. Robert continued to follow the Astros from overseas, as much as possible in those days, and enjoyed season tickets in retirement. Keith was glad that he got Robert to a winning Astros World Series game in 2022 after the disappointment they faced together in 2005. Robert also enjoyed visiting Cooperstown, New York with Keith for induction of Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell into the Hall of Fame.

Robert is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carolyn Couch, his sister Gladene McClain of Nacogdoches, Texas, his son Keith Couch of Baltimore, Maryland, and his daughter Sonja Murrell of Jennings Oklahoma. Poppa's grandchildren are Regan Murrell of Edmond, Oklahoma, Joshua Murrell of Katy, Texas, Luke Murrell of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Carolyn Couch of Burlington, Vermont, and Lillian Couch of Elon, North Carolina. Surviving cousins are Stephen Smith of Houston, Texas, Suzanne Reviere of Sour Lake, Texas, Linda Carroll of Belton, Texas, and Micheal Couch of League City, Texas.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 25th at 2PM at Central Baptist Church in Kirbyville, Texas, where friends and family will gather to celebrate Robert's life, faith and legacy. Visitation will be held at Adams EE Stringer Funeral Home in Kirbyville on Friday April 24th from 5-7 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry, PO Box 1611, Stafford, Texas 77497 (humanneeds.org) honoring Robert's lifelong commitment to serving others.