Rest in Peace Rob "Pef" Peffley

[PefSis]

Hi All, This is Kim, aka Big Sis. This is only the beginning for me. I feel like I've lost part of me and getting to know you all helps me so much. I'm going to make sure you all see those cars again and that they keep coming to the GTG's he loved so much, and for so much of his life.

I will be in contact with you all in the months to come regarding the organization my family and I are starting in his honor, to support his passions and hopefully save others' lives.

Much Love,
Kim

[gonglaw]

We own a small store near Killerpaint. Pef came in to our store almost daily for cookies and conversation. My husband broke the sad news to me when I arrived at work the day following Pef's death. It was difficult to believe that someone so vibrant could be gone so quickly without warning.

Beneath all his bravado, Pef was a very caring and sensitive person. There were several occasions when I was sad and he came into the back room of our store to see if I needed a hug. He was always ready to listen if I needed him to. He felt very comfortable in our store and if he needed anything, he would walk into the back to get what he wanted. It made us feel really good that he felt that way about us.

I was also extremely impressed and touched by the way Pef reacted around children. I saw him at Gagnon Welding one day playing with someone's children and he was having as much fun as they were. It makes me sad now, because he didn't have the chance to be the great dad I know he would have been.

I also appreciate Pef for talking to my son and treating him like one of the guys. My son is 20 and not always comfortable around people he doesn't know well. He was quite in awe of the Killerpaint guys, but Pef always made him feel comfortable...that sensitive side again.

While my husband and I were unable to attend the celebration for Pef yesterday (Our store was open and our key employee attended the service so we stayed behind), we were there in our thoughts. I hope Pef's family is comforted by the knowledge that Pef was a great guy who touched many in a very positive way. We will all miss him.

[EK20]

Quote, originally posted by FastTrash2.0T »

I will miss showing up to the GTG and hearing the red mkII come down the parking lot with a unmistakable whine to it...You Will be Missed man! and never forgotten!

Yeah, I always looked forward to hanging out with him just about every weeks GTG.

Also, I've been trying to follow this thread pretty close, and I apologize if I missed it, but what were his wishes regarding his finial resting place? Did he want to be buried or cremated? I'll bet a ton of us would love to know so we'd be able to stop by and visit with him in our own ways.

[cgdyks]

Hi everyone. It's mom (Cathi) I can't tell you what today was for our family - the outpouring of love and caring was overwhelming! I believe the celebration would in many ways, have embarrassed Rob, but for his mom's heart it was so healing!

I wanted so much to meet everyone and thank you all for being a friend to my son and for loving him. Please know, that if I missed you it wasn't because I meant to. I was totally overwhelmed by the number of you that were there. We're here and would love to stay in touch.

As much as I wasn't a fan of motorcycles, I loved that some of you rode to the service, and the salutes in front of the church made me say "Yeah!! that's for my beautiful Rob!! The pastor of the church was thrilled as well. He loved being a part of today! I'm betting it was one of the more exciting services he's been a part of!

Again I will say to you all, thank you for being a friend to my Rob and for sharing your caring and your love with our family. It's been a tremendous blessing.

For those of you riding tomorrow, please be safe.

All my thanks to you all.

Mom

[PefSis]

Big Sis here... Rob didn't sit still in life and would hate to be imprisoned in death as well. Rob has been cremated and we are working on where he will be set free like his spirit.

Rob is all around us and always will be. The last time I saw Rob, he came to our house for a family GTG. It was Sunday, August 12th and some of us met at our house and all went to the Festival of the River to hear The Verve Pipe and Toad the Wet Sprocket perform. It was beautiful out. He came in the mkII and in usual Rob fashion, we could hear him coming from at least a block away. He always knew how to make an entrance.

We had to take multiple vehicles and I had to drive so we could fit everyone. We had a great time and he was so relaxed and happy. He drove his car and one of our girls rode with him. Getting ready to leave the park and going back to our house, all I wanted to do was throw my keys to someone and ride with him. Like old times, with the windows down, laughing. I'm so glad I gave his extra hugs that day.

I'll keep you posted so you can be included in the event. I would be great to make a day of it.

Kim

[carcar19781978]

I would like to be part of that..... Joe

[ber79]

It's just so sad. He was so happy, and had a great life, family, friends; he loved his work. I'm so glad I attended his memorial. I was finally able to meet his family, and they're just wonderful people. To see so many people, and so many different KINDS of people, show up to pay their respects, it just goes to show what an awesome guy he was. I'll never forget his smile. Rest In Peace. I'd like to know whats happened to the idiot that simply didn't pay attention, and took Rob away from all of us

[Blackbird Flyer]

Here is a story from his youngest stepsister Tara who lives in the Bay Area of San Francisco:

My strongest and fondest memories of Rob are honestly from when I was
5 years old, and we'd first met. Our parents had married, and we were
trying to figure out how to be family in our own childish ways.

I remember Rob being patient with this little girl who was so
interested in his racing car set, his cardboard box fort, and just
about anything else he was involved in. One day, while he was racing
his cars along their track, I peeked around the door and asked the
question I'd been working up the courage to ask for weeks: could I
play too? Without hesitation, he moved over and handed me the
controls. I remember very little about that year, but spending that
afternoon playing with Rob is something I remember very well.

Even though that was over 20 years ago, I feel that it is indicative
of who Rob was: willing to share, ready for fun, and always willing to
make a new friend. It was as true then as it was the last time I saw
him, when we had dinner with Dad and Bonnie. Even though we'd lost
touch, he was interested in hearing what was going on in my life and
happy to share what was going on with his.

I know that you do not meet people like him every day, and he will be
dearly missed by everyone whose lives he touched.

Tara

[Blackbird Flyer]

As I said earlier in this forum, the person who hit Rob was cited and is being held responsible for his passing on by Washington State. I am not excusing this bad driving behavior, but this death will be a terrible thing to live with for the rest of their life. Thank you for coming to the Celebration of Rob's Life on Friday. I can post a few more stories here about their memories of Rob from our family members who could not attend the services and my presentation at the services, if those of you who could not attend the celebrationwould like to read them.

Rob's Dad

[Blackbird Flyer]

I received this from Rob's first cousin, Scott, in Connecticut:

I spoke with my Dad tonight and he asked me to pass on a fun memory of Rob for the Celebration of Rob's Life memorial service and add my own.

My Dad remembers from our trip out west in 1981 that Rob was already a fan of the Beach Boys. It was Rob's interest in the Beach Boys that rekindled my Dad's enjoyment of their music that lives on to this day!

I'd like to add that it's that visit that I have fond memories from as well. I was ten and I think Rob was eight and we were inseperable for that week. We rode bikes and he had a cool go-cart and we made toy swords from the firewood pile. He showed me what happened when you put salt on a slug and being ten I was totally grossed out and it was awesome. We had a blast the whole week, he was a fun kid.
I saw him again when I was twenty in 1991 and he was eighteen. We were out for my other cousin, his sister's wedding, and we had little time to catch up. We were grown up and into different things but I remember wishing we had more time to connect. I do remember seeing the chassis of a car in his garage that blew me away because I've only done basic maintenance on my vehicles. He was putting a whole car back together again --- I was greatly impressed.
Now I know he was doing that for many people, not just for his own cars.

I can see now how he shared his passion with others for their benefit.
That to me is inspiring and that is what I'll remember him for.

Scott Peffley

[TJClover]

I just wanted to say how great it was to be there at the memorial. I was touched by his whole family and how great they were. Kim, it was great to have met you in person, and I have to say that the piston necklace Pef always wore looked like it was meant for you as well.

The healing process will be hard and on different levels for everyone, but it's a great feeling to laugh whenever I think about something hilarious he did...or just his laugh in general. I wish I could thank Rob for so much, but his memory will always stay with me.

Love you PEF!!!

[SKIDMRK]

If there are any family members or friends that did not get a chance to receive one of the stickers at the service, please send me an e-mail at mlambert39 {at} hotmail [dot] com and i'll try to drop one in the mail for you.

[CRacer21]

I think I already mentioned this in here at some point. But I gave him grief about his grey har.

"Hey Gramps, isn't Matlock about to start?"

He either laughed or flipped me off.

See you on the other side Grandpa.

[EK20]

Quote, originally posted by SKIDMRK »

If there are any family members or friends that did not get a chance to receive one of the stickers at the service, please send me an e-mail at mlambert39 {at} hotmail [dot] com and i'll try to drop one in the mail for you.

I know a bunch from the Lynnwood GTGs would love some stickers.

[cgdyks]

Modified by cgdyks at 6:06 PM 9-10-2007

[cgdyks]

Hi, It's Mom, and as much as Kim said send six to our address above, I know that there's a cost to this. Please let me know how much. I don't want anyone to be in any kind of financial dilemma because of their big heart.

As an update, we're working on how best for Rob's legacy to go foward. As we get our thoughts together, we'll keep everyone informed.

Hugs around
Mom

[Blackbird Flyer]

We are sorting our way through the daily tasks of building a positive legacy of pro-active outcomes and tributes for Pef. I am just starting to study the details of Rob's fatal accident in the WSP Accident Report and will be collecting the witness reports and other data.

Those of you who want to help start a non-profit, memorial foundation for more auto motorist awareness of intersection driving hazards to us all, and tougher laws to require offenders to take classes for their negligence and responsibilities to motorcyclists, please send me an email of your name and involvement intentions to team_excalibur@hotmail.com .

We welcome your ideas and willingness to also participate in setting up a new motorist safety education website in Pef's memory. We are also interested in generating letters to our state senators and representatives to suggest the establishment and enforcement of more specific negligence laws to help reduce this national motor vehicle accident problem (and hopefully try to save a few more lives from this terrible type of accident.) This is more than just Failure to Yield Right of Way and "... not seeing the other driver". This accident ranks with severe DUI and falling asleep at the wheel negligence circumstances for citation, in my way of thinking. I am still collecting information on the accident specifics. This information can be used in a positive way to help save future lives and our independent driving values! Drive defensively and keep having fun with your favorite set of wheels (two or four, or more )...

Best Regards,
Rob's Dad

[jason.lee]

You have email.

[SR20FTW]

I have a Q', So what exactly are you going to do with Rob's cars? are you going to keep them and try to make it out to some VW G2G's and take them to shows in his honor? I think that would be awsome to do. It would also be a good way to keep his legacy going, and also bring awareness to those out there that might not know or are a part of the driving stupidity we will sum up to "not paying attn."

[Domin8v]

I'm not usually a fan of using something tramatic for shock value, but I was just thinking of how much more effective than a bumper sticker or something, it would be to take his cars (and those he worked on) to a show so when people ask where they can get paint work like that done you can say how drinking and driving took that oppurtunity away from them.

i apologize if that sounded insensitive in anyway as it was not intended to be.

[EK20]

Quote, originally posted by SR20FTW »

Are you going to keep them and try to make it out to some VW G2G's and take them to shows in his honor? I think that would be awsome to do.

That sounds like a pretty good idea actually.

[PefSis]

Hi All,
We're putting a lot of thought into the cars actually. I think we've all been doing a lot of soul searching this past week, now that things are really sinking in.

There have been a number of Rob's close friends that have offered to help finish his cars, etc. As our Dad said, there is a lot of legal stuff we have to go through as well as finding the best, most effective way to maintain and build Rob's legacy.

We are definitely going forward with a non-profit organization and are working with friends with connections to lobbyists to find out what our best option is for passing some sort of initiative in the state legislature.

With the contacts that Rob worked with, as well as his awards, a scholarship for high quality paint and auto-body is a must. The safety resource web-site is a no-brainer as well.

Our biggest concern as a family right now is how to get through these next few weeks of legal **** and keep our ties with you all so we can get to know you more. We all love Rob and need to stick together to cherish the laughter and fun he brought all of us.

Just to clerify for you all, there was no DUI involved, but what my Dad was saying was that not being responsible about watching for others should be treated similarly to a DUI type citation, especially where major injury or death occurs. People need to understand that driving a vehicle is a priviledge that should not be taken lightly. It comes down to responsibility. We've all made mistakes, but it is important to take responsibility for them. The person who hit Rob is undoubtedly going to be haunted by the fact that she killed someone for the rest of her life. But, I'm sure she's going to drive again.... and others will too.... and not pay attention.

I've asked myself a million times, this past week especially seeing everyone out on their bikes in the nice weather... "Why did it have to be Rob?" All I've been able to come up with is this: He's so missed by so many... and... Rob always was bigger than life.

There are lots of people who leave this world that aren't missed much, or people have negative memories of them, but Rob left us at the top of his game, and he was ready to go ahead of us to bigger things. We are left to finish what he started for us to do. Make a mark... affect change... make the world a little better where we can.

I miss my brother sooooo much my heart aches... but I could not be more proud to be his sister.

Much Love,
Kim

[CRacer21]

Damn...it's been two months already. I still think about him almost daily. Especially his laugh.

[EK20]

Yeah, it's pretty rough on everyone.

Also, who put that pumpkin at "the scene"? That was really cool.

[jason.lee]

Just thinking about you man. Can't believe it's been a year....

Hope the ridin' is good up there.

[EK20]

Damn, I can't believe it's been a year already.

Still miss ya dude.

[mk4spence]

[Kerbear]

[CRacer21]

One long damn year...

[jason.lee]

Hey everybody.... I can't believe it, it's been nearly five years since Rob's passing... Miss him every day...

In honor of Rob, I'm having a pot-luck dinner at my place in Lakewood. Some of you I have on Facebook, but some of you I don't.

Please IM me for my address, I'd love to have you down.

http://www.facebook.com/uberwhelmed

[CRacer21]

5 years? Damn it feels like 10 years.

[clutchpack]

Wow I didnt think anyone from here knew Pef.... digging this up really brings back alot of pain. I still have the bike he painted for me.... still remember having talks with him. That baby face telling me to stop ****ing up and get my **** straight. I really didnt need this tonight.

[EK20]

Man, I can't believe it's already been 5 years.

[TJClover]

I feel that way too, Jason. I was counting the years and man, I still miss him so much. A lot in my life has happened because of him. Still devastated.

[ASE82]

Wish we could make it to remember with you all Jason.. 5 years, just doesn't seem like it.