Bob was a native of Arizona, born in Florence January 23, 1935 to parents, Perry Alonzo Barksdale and Dorothy Elizabeth Barksdale nee Burke. Bob was the eldest of three, brother to John Thomas Barksdale, Tommy and Donna Simonson. During Bob's young life his family moved from one engineering-construction project to another, taking them from Arizona to Palo Alto, California and Bridgeport, Washington just to name a few. It was during his father's work on Davis Dam on the Colorado River that Bob attended Kingman High, where he met his wife Shirley of the Stephens ranching family. As a child, Bob took inspiration from his maternal grandfather, John Thomas Burke and his own father to pursue a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Arizona. He later added a Masters of Business from University of California Berkeley.

Bob's life work as an engineer with Bechtel took him all over the world putting him in contact with world leaders and some of the most important projects of his day. He was proud to work on rapid transit systems like BART, MARTA, WMATA and that of Buenos Aires. Airports, bridges, dams, hydro-electric projects an infrastructure like the Jubail Project the largest project in the world in its time, were just some of his accomplishments. Whether working in Beirut, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, Iraq, The United Arab Emirates, Jordan or Egypt, Peru, Chile, Brazil, or Argentina, China, Singapore or one of the Capitals of Europe, his motto for work and life was; patience, persistence and a sense of humor and most importantly never, ever, ever give up.

Bob was a proud member of many professional and social organizations such as the Engineers Club and The Commonwealth Club. His two favorite affiliations were The Olympic Club of San Francisco, where he was one of the original founders of the Golden Jocksters and a member for over forty years and The Beavers; Heavy Engineering and Construction Association. He served on the Alumni Industry Council to the University of Arizona's Civil Engineering Department and was a member of The President's Club.

Above all, Bob loved his role of father, grandfather and great grandfather and was affectionately referred to as Papa. He loved to walk, travel, research history and explore his family genealogy. His love of travel allowed him to consider places like Argentina, London and Switzerland second homes. Even with his adventurous spirit, he was never happier than when he was at home with his wife of 69 years Shirley in Lafayette, California.

Bob was survived by his wife, Shirley, Daughters: Jennifer Waite and John Waite (husband) , Roberta Kelapire and Stephanie Barksdale, Grandchildren: Zane Waite his wife Kayla Waite, Amanda Boblett, Sophia Waite, Justin Kelapire and his fiancee Ashley Lauderdale and Ryan Kelapire, Great Grandchildren: Zariah Waite, Kinsley Waite and Penelope Kelapire.