Robert Wallace Karklin, 56, entered his eternal home on Monday, November 23 in Rochester, MN after a courageous battle with a rare, aggressive cancer.

He is survived by his three children, Stephanie (Ben), Lancellot (Bethany) and Charisse along with his mother, Kay Karklin, sister, Melody Karklin-Knudson (Gregg), brother, Joshua Karklin, grandson, Ronan Karklin, 4 nieces/nephews and Dolores (Dee) Collard, beloved, dear friend.  He was preceded in death by his father, Bob A. Karklin.

Rob was born in Devils Lake, ND on November 11, 1964. His father was a pastor of 3 churches in the area.  Rob's family moved to Minneapolis in 1965; in 1974 they moved to SW MN and moved in 1978 to Denver CO.

Robert was heavily involved in music classes. His school took first place in state and national jazz band in 8 ^th and 9 ^th grade; regular band took second in state. Rob enjoyed marching band in 10 ^th grade. Shortly after 10 ^th grade he joined the Marine Corps and worked in aviation. He was honorably discharged 4 years later.

Soon after Rob married and had 3 lovely children. After his divorce in 2005, he began traveling the country as a union electrician. He later went back into serving his country during natural disasters overseas until 2010.  In 2012, God offered him a job working off the Gulf of Mexico, the best job he ever had.

In 2015 Rob contracted a rare cancer of unknown origin. After surgery and 39 radiation treatments, he was cleared and began working offshore again until 2017 when he was laid off due to the oil market.  Later he pursued serving our troops overseas as a master electrician electrical supervisor. Robert believed service is everything and he did everything to serve. Duty and honor were very important to him.

In June of 2019 the cancer returned. Rob was told by the Moffitt Cancer Institute, where he had been treated in 2015, that the cancer was inoperable. His Rochester, MN friends, John and Martha Homme, encouraged him to come to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion. Following jaw reconstruction surgery and 45 radiation treatments at Mayo the cancer was gone from his jaw but it metastasized to his lungs with no further treatment options. Robert lived with the Hommes from November 30, 2019 until his death. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, July 5, 2021 at 11:00AM at First Baptist Church, Cook, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Lunch will be held at the VFW, Cook, MN immediately following the burial at Cook Cemetery.