Sunday August 11th, 2013..more info will follow as I get it.

Dear Class,

I want to tell you that tonight at almost 11:00pm Robert Locke has passed away at St Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta. I had received a text from Leslie Goldberg saying she had heard that Robert had come down with pneuomia and was in critical condition. I called Robert's cell and his wife answered about 10:45 tonight. While she and I were on the phone, Robert passed away. She said Robert had been fine as of Friday and  early Saturday morning around 3am he said he wasnt feeling well. They went to the hospital and things went down hill fast. Robert as you may know has had cystic fibrosis for as long as I have known him.

Crystal his wife asked for prayers for her and their two boys Rodriguez and Jeffson and her and Roberts family. She will pass along arrangements when she makes them. Robert was scheduled to have a Kidney Transplant on August 22. Robert would have been 44 September 22nd. He had told me that he would be sorry not to make the reunion as he would only be 3 weeks out from his transplant.

Robert and I have been keeping up with each other almost every two weeks as he has been waiting a long time for his kidney transplant. In that time Robert has shared his faith in God and Jesus as his savior and was always giving God thanks in everything from his family to his continued life here on earth. Robert has already had a lung transplant. I would call Robert TIMEX because he would take a licking and keep on ticking. God has a time and reason for everything. It is not for us to question why but trust that through Robert's life and death, the gladness and sadness of it all, someone comes to know Christ as their savior. A young life gone tends to make one question their own mortality and search their soul about what happens when we die, where we go and what life is all about. I hope thru Robert's life and early death someone will decide they need to make a decision about the most important choice we can make in this life, and that is to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior and receive eternal life in heaven. We do not go to the doctor unless were hurting and most people dont turn to the Lord until they are hurting. God can use sadness to win souls to Christ and change lives. I know, it happend in my life and I accepted Christ as a result.  

"For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation and there is no regret in that." 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 10 Good news bible

Robert no longer has Cystic Fibrosis and as I type this he has been in Heaven less than an hour. Robert you were the toughest guy I have known. Everyday of your life was a fight and I never once heard you complain. You would always say "God is good". God Speed Robert!

Sincerely,

Babb