Major Robert Magnuson Memorial Fund

This Gofundme is for the medical and funeral expenses of former U.S. Army Major Robert Allen Magnuson who passed away suddenly on January 17th at age fifty-five. Anything beyond the goal will be used for his family’s expenses as they get back on their feet. If you do not know Robert and would like to know what kind of man he was and how his family came to this point, please read on:

Throughout the fifty-five years of his life, Robert epitomized compassion, self-sacrifice, and loyalty. To so many, including his family, he was both a light and a source of wisdom, stemming both from his lifelong faith in Christ and a deep wealth of knowledge born of vast experience. With an unconditional love for all he met, Robert was a son, brother, husband, father, army officer, lawyer, and friend.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967, he early on had a love for history, law, and the connections between nations that would eventually guide both his academic life and his career. The oldest of five children, he was often fearless, even once jumping off the roof of his garage. Throughout his early years, Robert displayed a knack for athletics, playing soccer, baseball, basketball, football, and many more. He also helped to support his family through his high school years, ensuring as oil crashed in his home state that his mother and younger siblings would have food on the table, waiting to eat until they had eaten to ensure they had enough.

Though he had opportunities to go to college on a football scholarship and to even attend West Point, Robert prized academics as much as athletics. Eventually, he settled on Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and there, in October of his freshman year, he met his wife, Jacqueline, after their International Relations class. After only three weeks of instant understanding and connection, they knew it would only be a matter of time before they got married. He served as president of the student senate, continued to play football, and chose to join the Army through the ROTC program. After college, he became an infantry officer and then attended law school.

Once both of them graduated from law school, Robert and Jacqueline married in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Not long after, he received a posting at Fort Benning, Georgia as a member of the JAG Corps, but also as an officer in the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, completing twenty-eight jumps. Only a year into their time there, they had their first child, a daughter they named Morgan, and 18 months later, their first son, Christian. The next few years would be full of moves for the family, Jackie at first being a stay-at-home mom and then, much to Robert’s joy, also home-educating their children, providing stability in the nomadic lifestyle of a military family.

How we reached this farewell began in 2004 when Robert was deployed to Iraq for eleven months, weeks after he moved his family out to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. One of only two army contract lawyers in the entire theater, he worked at least eighteen hours a day, six days a week, sometimes going without sleep for more than twenty-four hours to complete the mission. Like his entire unit, Robert lived and worked in an extremely active war zone, nearly dying at least ten times over the course of his deployment by enemy fire. He deeply cared about the men and women around him. After a massive rocket attack on the trailers the men lived in a month after his arrival, Robert suggested and then helped to implement the use of JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) which helped to stop rockets and their teams in their tracks, saving countless lives. In addition, through his tireless efforts to hold the U.S. Government in compliance with environmental regulations, he was exposed to burn pits both created by the coalition and locals as well as depleted uranium. No matter who he had to talk to, Generals, Secretaries, etc. he would never break his ethics under any pressure, having the best interests of both the United States and the Iraqi people at heart.

Before Major Robert Magnuson went to Iraq, he could play an entire soccer game nearly at a world-class level. When he returned, he could barely finish a half. Exhausted and with back pain that refused to go away, he returned to serving his country in the reserves and through his various legal positions in the Army and the Department of Defense. Only a year later, he and Jackie welcomed their final child, a son, Ian, born weeks after they moved to Germany. There, he held himself to a high ethical standard, refusing to even bring a pen home from work, and expected himself to produce the highest quality of work. Frequently requested at conferences as a subject matter expert, he was a team player whose presentations on various international environmental regulations are still being used across NATO and EU today, having the respect of his colleagues across the world for a mind for this work like no other.

Even as his health slowly worsened, he refused to slow down. For his children and wife, he was a constant, loving presence in their lives, helping with housework, involved in education, and showing them every opportunity to thrive. It brought him so much joy to watch his children discover their passions and become successful young people with such a strong faith in Christ like himself, and his children adored him in return. He showed them all the world.

Not long after they returned to the United States after living nine years in Germany, his health had a total collapse. On Ian’s birthday in 2015, he sat down on a bench during a walk with his wife, and when he stood up, his entire back collapsed. For the next year and a half, he worked from home, ate, and lived on his stomach as he couldn’t sit for more than fifteen minutes at a time without screaming in pain. Back before his tour in Iraq, he learned they only had the normal length protective vest, too short for his height of 6’5”, and to wait for the tall would hold him back weeks from his unit’s deployment. Ever loyal to his men and country, he chose to take the shorter vest, but over those months, it utterly ruined the two vertebrae which control the ability to sit, the source of that nagging back pain. On his back’s heels came a collapse of his immune and adrenal systems, leading to not only complete exhaustion but also his body attacking itself, tearing apart his gut, and destroying his quality of life. These likely came in part through his exposure to the burn pits as well as the extreme level of stress he experienced in Iraq. Robert was also diagnosed with the severest of sleep apnea, forcing him to use the most advanced of BiPap machines to keep it under control. Only through his wife’s tireless research and work when the doctors failed him did he not only survive but somewhat regain some quality of life, but it meant a very early medical retirement from government service.

Even as his colleagues and friends begged him to seek VA disability, some even having received it with far lesser issues that stemmed from their military service, Robert refused. Ever concerned about the taxpayer, he couldn’t bring himself to take from them when he could support himself in even the most meager of senses through a few consulting jobs each year. He simply didn’t consider it an option.

Over the next few years, Robert went through ups and downs in his health. The highs were barely normal and the lows were almost horrific to witness, especially as the lows slowly increased in length. Still, he watched his daughter graduate from William and Mary with a History degree, his first son become a software engineer at Apple after not attending college, and his youngest dive into math, science and the world of cars. He supported their dreams, no matter how far-fetched they were.

In the spring of 2022, only months after almost losing his wife to COVID, he finally found the opportunity to return to Tulsa, his hometown that he loved so deeply, after forty-two years. Over that blissful but exhausting summer, he visited all the old haunts, ate his favorite foods, including his beloved Braum’s chocolate chip ice cream, and even managed to visit his mother up in Minnesota.

In October, he felt what he thought was the return of the bronchitis that had also plagued him since Iraq, but after a trip to see his mother-in-law over Thanksgiving, it took a turn for the worse. The cold he caught would not go away, turning into a fever at times, and his legs, stomach and ankles began to swell as vomiting became a constant part of his life. The doctors began to fear for his heart as his left ventricle was working at only 20%, and even after putting him on numerous medicines, nothing changed. He only grew weaker, more exhausted. On Wednesday, January 11th, his 31st wedding anniversary, he went in with his daughter for a Cath Lab to check for blockages. He had four, a 70%, two 90%, and a 100%, leading to an immediate move to admit him to hospital and to schedule him for surgery that Monday for a triple bypass.

His family stayed by his side almost constantly, encouraging him on as he believed his chances were still good. Instead, during the procedure, his surgeon discovered his heart was far worse than expected, likely about 10% of what it should be. Even though his heart restarted, it soon began to fail, requiring a pump and reducing his chance of survival to 50/50, though his family was told they would know which over the next four days. They believed they had time. Robert went into full cardiac arrest at around six am Tuesday morning, January 17th, and after forty-plus minutes of attempting to resuscitate him, he was declared dead. His service likely contributed to his early death. However, he had no pain, and for all he knew, one moment he went to sleep and the next, he woke up in the arms of Jesus, having left the world from the same hospital he was born in. He leaves behind his wife (Jacqueline), his three children (Morgan, 25, Christian, 23, Ian, 17), his mother (Patricia), and his four siblings (Britt, Brian, Leif, and Mark).

While Robert tried to submit a VA claim in the weeks leading up to his death, he was too weak to complete it, and his small retirement fund is only enough to cover the family’s rent. He had neither life insurance nor military retirement. As can be imagined, the last few months have put an extreme tax on their finances, so any help you are willing to give is more than appreciated. Thank you for listening to his story.