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In memory of

Adam Dobyns

Bakersfield, CA, USA

December 22, 1978 - November 6, 2020

Dec 22, 1978 - Nov 6, 2020

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OBITUARY followed by a note from Adam's parents, followed by a note from Adam's wife.

David Adam Dobyns, 41, recently of Bakersfield, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on November 6 at his home. Adam was born in Orange County and attended schools in Southern California, graduating from UCLA with a degree in Political Science. He then began a successful career in medical sales in the South Bay region of Los Angeles. He accepted a transfer to Bakersfield, the hometown of his wife, Kristen Tarjan Dobyns, where he resided for the past six years. Adam met his future wife, a fellow UCLA student, during study abroad in Hungary. Adam was a devoted husband and father, who took great pride in his family and his career. Always a hard worker, he worked extreme hours from the beginning of the pandemic to keep local medical facilities and physicians stocked with needed scarce supplies. Possessing a keen sense of humor, Adam was a music aficionado and avid historian who devoured history books and greatly enjoyed several victories in the annual Brains of Bakersfield team trivia contest. He rejoiced and suffered along with the fortunes of his beloved UCLA Bruin teams with his long-time fellow members of the Theta Chi fraternity. He is survived by wife Kristen, son Jackson, daughter Emily, mother Kim Dobyns and father David Dobyns of Kila, Montana, and an adoring extended family.
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Our Dear Son Adam,

Adam was our only child and the light of our lives. We were married in January 1978 and Adam was born 11 ½ months later. The three of us were inseparable until Adam went off to college. We are so grateful for those 20 special years together.

Adam loved to talk about his memories, and we had so many conversations and laughs about his childhood. Most people would describe Adam as a “Character” in elementary school and high school.

To be honest Adam played outside the lines… but he had the time of his life doing it.

As a family we took many vacations and Adam even learned to snow ski at the very young age of 4. We were pretty much on the go every weekend - trips to ski resorts, beach vacations, back packing. We were a team, a family, but most of all best friends. We would tell everyone to this day that Adam was truly our best friend from the day he was born.

As parents, though, the most important event in our lives was when Adam became a Christian. Adam and his Dad walked down on the field at a Harvest Crusade and Adam accepted Christ as his personal savior and was baptized a few months later at Calvary Chapel camp. We can still remember the phone call when he called to tell us he was baptized and was excited that pastor Chuck Smith was there.

As parents there is no greater mission than making sure your children know the Lord and it gives you so much peace to know without any doubt they are in heaven.

There are so many stories to tell, but there are 3 very special stories we want to share.

When Adam graduated high school with his best friend Greg Patterson, they both developed an indescribable drive to do whatever it took to get into UCLA together. For two years Adam focused on nothing else but his studies and a part-time job. He achieved the best grades of his academic career. We have never seen such dedication and hard work to get into college. One of the proudest moments is when the envelope arrived, and he was accepted into UCLA. He graduated achieving his degree in Political Science and he felt like it was a monumental achievement in his life.

When Adam met Kristen, he knew he met his soulmate. They both went to UCLA and met during a study abroad in Hungary. It was easy to see how much he loved her and as their family grew so did his love for her and their children, Jackson and Emily. He loved being a husband and a father. Now, it was Adam’s time to be a father and a best friend to his own children. Adam loved Jackson and his new daughter Emily so much. Adam would often tell us that he would watch them like a hawk because he never wanted them to get hurt. Adam loved to teach Jackson about history. They spent many hours together memorizing all the president’s names in chronological order when Jackson was only 6 years old.

The love between a parent and child is a bond that never ends. Even when your children are grown you still feel the need to be there for them anytime and anywhere. We always lit up every time the phone would ring, and we saw it was Adam. We would drop everything just to talk to him. Dave and Adam would talk about movies for hours and Adam and mom would talk politics and James Taylor. Once Adam got going you could not stop him. He would often call his cousins and uncle and talk to them for hours at a time.

In closing, anyone who knew Adam knew that he wanted everyone to be happy. His parents, his family and even every physician he had as a client were important to him. We loved and admired him for this quality because he made everyone feel special. We love you Adam and you will be missed forever.

Love Mom and Dad
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About Adam, From Kristen

Adam was my other half and my partner in life for the last 19 years. He supported me in all that I did and loved me unconditionally. He was a wonderful father who cared deeply for his children and brought so much fun and laughter into our lives. Jackson and Adam shared a passion for knowledge and facts and spent many evenings teaching each other and looking up new information about a wide variety of topics. Adam was beyond thrilled to have his life blessed with our daughter Emily. He delighted in getting her to laugh uncontrollably. Adam lived his life to make our lives better and wanted nothing more than to make us happy.

As we try to navigate the world now without the man that was at the center of our lives, I receive strength from all the wonderful memories I have of him and from the ways he changed me as a person that will be with me forever. I see him in my children in so many ways. I know he will always be here with us and will always be a part of our lives. I know he is smiling down on us and just hoping with all of his heart that we are happy and ok because that is all he ever wanted.

I have also been brought strength by all the people around us that have shown us love and support. My parents, Adam’s parents, and my sister and brother-in-law dropped everything to come and make sure we were taken care of in every way possible and want for nothing. Even through their own grief, they have offered strength to buoy me up. Family and friends have reached out in a constant stream of love and support.

Those of you who knew Adam know how loyal and amazing he was. He loved his friends like family and he loved his family with all his heart. At work, he was incredibly hard working and truly cared about his customers and colleagues. He counted many of them as his friends. He would work tirelessly to make sure that the needs of his customers were met to the best of his ability. Adam was an amazing listener who loved to learn about the lives of his family and friends. He was an entertaining and funny storyteller and one of his favorite things to do, whether in person or on the phone, was to spend time recounting old times with his loved ones. Thank you for all of the time you shared with him. I know that you too are feeling his loss and grieving deeply. While I hate that you are hurting also, I am glad to have so many people in our life that love him so much and will help to keep his memory alive and will continue to retell his stories.

I also wanted to add a quick note because many people have reached out to me and my family asking what they can do to help. Because of COVID, it really is difficult to get together for the in-person support that I know so many people want to offer. Because each member of my family has food allergy restrictions on what we can eat, meal trains are difficult. With that in mind, we set up this page. I also wanted to say I appreciate all of the messages, texts, and emails I have received even if all I am able to respond with is a thank you. Please know that your kind words mean so very much to me. If you have stories of Adam that you would be willing to share so that I can create a memory book for myself and the children, please email them to me at kristendobyns@gmail.com.
With love,
Kristen

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