Robert Earl Holcomb
1969-2024
Shirley Ann Wood and Robert Earl Holcomb
by Alex Campbell
With profound sadness, we share this story from Homes 4 the Homeless, a nonprofit organization based in Fulton, California. Fulton is an unincorporated whistle-stop community nestled between Santa Rosa and Windsor near the train tracks at the junction of Fulton and River Road. Our organization was born out of necessity in 2018 following the devastating Tubbs Fire, which razed over 5,000 homes in our area, including the home of Homes 4 the Homeless founder Steve Schneider. Our mission emerged from the ashes: to aid the thousands left homeless, forced to live in cars, encampments, or to relocate elsewhere.
I help answer the phones at H4H, and every time it rings, I am gripped between hope and despair, uncertain of what awaits on the other end. That day, I distinctly remember Tammy Bowman reaching out for our assistance on December 7, 2023 for her friend Robert Holcomb. Robert, battling kidney failure and reliant on dialysis treatment three times a week from DaVita Santa Rosa Springs Kidney Care, where his old friend Kim worked, was living in his car in the clinic’s parking lot. He had a housing choice voucher but couldn’t find a landlord willing to take it.
Robert’s voucher was set to expire on March 8; so there was no time to waste. Quickly, Homes 4 the Homeless CEO Steve Schnieder helped Robert arrange a place to use his housing choice voucher for a one-bedroom ADU near Guerneville. He recounts a poignant moment as he handed Robert the keys to his new home; despite the gloomy spring rain, for a fleeting moment sunlight pierced through the clouds. During his next visit, Steve took a snapshot of Robert throwing a ball for the neighbor’s dogs and expressing his desire to get a dog of his own. Tragically, Robert’s story took a heartbreaking turn. Despite everyone’s hopes for this newfound stability, on March 22, 2024, Robert suffered a fatal cardiac arrest following a dialysis session.
A few days later, I reached out to Robert’s wife Shirley and also spoke to his son, Brandon Holcomb and we invited him to visit us to show him around Homes 4 the Homeless, inside Steve’s rental car business in Fulton, Ace rent-a-car. Steve joined us, and we quickly noted the strong family resemblance between Brandon and his father. Brandon spoke about his work with Mentors Moving & Storage in Santa Rosa, detailing how they assist foster children with training and employment opportunities. He spoke enthusiastically about their moving and construction endeavors across the Western United States, highlighting their community service and a recent hotel project in Marina, California.
Steve, who had grown acquainted with Robert through housing arrangements near Guerneville, recounted a poignant moment when he handed Robert the keys to his new home on the cusp of spring. Despite the gloomy weather, for a fleeting moment, sunlight pierced through the clouds as Robert played with the neighbor’s dogs, captured in a photograph that Steve cherishes.
“I knew his condition, but didn’t know about his heart,” said his old friend Phil. He had known Robert since 5th or 6th grade. Lost touch for quite a while, but they had started hanging out together again recently. Robert helped manage the Donna Drive Apartment Complex with his wife Shirley. Phil was a painter and he and Robert would help paint the empty units and fix them up to get them ready for new tenants, and the two of them would spend time together after work. He said they used to love playing golf on his PlayStation together. He used to bring him parts to put together bicycles. They would listen to music while he was working on his bicycles. He built one for his son. Sometimes Phil used to help him with his wood carving. Robert was an accomplished carpenter and woodworker.
In piecing together Robert’s life, speaking with his wife Shirley and his son Brandon, I learned of his journey from the place of his birth in Oroville, California. His passion for carpentry and woodworking. Conversations with Phil unveiled shared memories of laughter, camaraderie, and their mutual love for golf and music. He met Shirley in 1991 and they married in 1999.
Delving further, H4H can derive inspiration from Robert’s career in construction. His love for carpentry and woodworking was fostered at an early age from the shop classes at Ridgeway High School, which was known for its vocational classes. They would fix places up at Donna Drive Apartments, where he and his wife would help manage. After tenants moved out, he and Phil would do odd fix up jobs and painting before someone else moved in. Phil said Robert could have gotten his contractor’s license. During his career, it was said he enjoyed building houses the most. He had also worked on one of the newer branches for Redwood Credit Union on Cleveland Avenue. Phil said Robert came to find him at work after he became homeless and they spent a great deal of time together recently talking and hanging out together in his final days. “The death of my own father didn’t affect him as much as the death of Robert.”
“The tools I got from him makes me think of him,” Brandon said. He recalled the time when he was young, and his father and Phil decided to get him started in construction. They needed a back porch at their apartment and Robert and Phil helped Brandon get started in construction by helping him build the back porch. He loved his tools and it’s fortunate the same tools are now in the hands of his son. Once Brandon came along, they would love going to car shows and go camping together.
Not to forget Robert’s love for animals. Strongly evident in the photo moving into his new place. One of the neighbor dogs kept barking at him, but by the time he was moved in the dogs knew they had a new friend and were happy by his side while he threw the ball for them.
Shirley remembers the good times they had shared and that he was her soulmate, was a good man, a good father, and a good looking guy in his youth. They enjoyed driving up to Twin Pines Casino and had a lot of fun together. They also enjoyed going to the Sonoma County Fair, and camping at Jellystone, Lake Sonoma and Cobb Mountain. He had two dogs he loved in particular, Brownie a Chihuahua/mini Pinscher, and Shiloh, a Wirehaired Terrier along with several cats, including his favorite, Missy. “He never knew his parents. He had a tough life,” she said. “It breaks my heart. Lost my best friend.”
As I navigated these conversations, grappling with sorrow and reflection. amidst all this there remains a glimmer of hope—a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring legacy of compassion. Godspeed, Robert, may you find peace. (by Alex Campbell, H4H)
