Robert Hornberger Obituary

Robert F. Hornberger passed on March 7, 2026, at the age of 79. Bobby was the first born to Fremont & Louise (Baldwin) Hornberger. Bobby became a big brother to Steven Hornberger born 4 years later.

They grew up in rural Douglas County where Bob attended Union School when he was promoted to skip a grade. His family moved to Lawrence the summer before high school. With a July birthday, he transitioned from a one-room schoolhouse to Lawrence High School at age 13. When Bob was a Senior at LHS he was FFA Chapter President and went on to receive the Kansas FFA Farmer of the Year complete with a trip to Chicago. Bob attended Kansas State University to pursue his Ag Econ degree where he met and married Andrea Lackie. They had two children, Jason and Leslie.

After his first post-college job with Standard Oil took them to Ft. Dodge, IA, Bob and Andrea returned to the area to pursue the dream of farming where he worked and farmed for several years. Bob moved to Arapahoe, NE to work for Evans Grain which led to a position in Cambridge, NE. There Bob met and married Gail Carpenter and they had a son, Jordan. Bob later worked for the cattle division of Koch Ind. Bob was known by some as "the terminator" as his career led him to manage various enormous feed yards which took him all over Kansas, Texas, Wyoming and Montana.

While living in Texas, Bob met Brenda January and they were married for more than twenty happy years traveling and enjoying their families and friends. Bob loved the outdoors. He spent several summers driving from Texas to Alaska & Canada with a pop-up camper and a 4-wheeler to explore for months. Bob rented an RV one summer and flew his kids & grandkids to meet him in Alaska to take them to several of his favorite places. Bob's grandkids attended "Camp Gpa Bob & Brenda" in Texas for many summers where they created priceless memories. Bob and Brenda recently moved to Laguna Vista, Texas to live out their beach life dream.

Those left to mourn his passing include his beloved wife Brenda, his sister-in-law Cindy Hornberger, his son Jason Hornberger (& Dr. Jean Schrader), his daughter Leslie Miller, his son Jordan (& Robin) Bass, and six grandchildren, Lindsey & Luke Hornberger, Sydnee & Rylee Miller, Julian & Charlotte Bass, nephews Ryan (& Jen) & Jeff Hornberger and many other family and friends. Family he gained from his love story with Brenda include his mother-in-law Mildred Baxter, brother-in-law Monte Baxter, Brenda's daughter Alicia (& Chris) Conley, grandchildren Cole (& Sadie) Pacheco, Kylee (& Brett) Moffet, Caylin & Krome Conley and four great-grandchildren.

Those who preceded Bob in death include his parents, Fremont & Louise Hornberger, his brother Steve Hornberger, his father-in-law Boyd Baxter, Brenda's son Jeff January and his brother-in-law Brad Baxter.

An open house celebration of life for Bob will be on Sunday, April 26, 2026, from 2-4 at the home of Bob's daughter, Leslie at 1524 Foxfire Drive, Lawrence.