Tommy "Fat Cat" Robbs

November 12, 1946 – May 9, 2025

Gaffney, SC - - Tommy Ross Robbs, 78, of 1409 Robbs School Road, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, May 9, 2025 at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Born in Gaffney, he was the husband of the late Judith Caldwell Robbs and the son of the late Ross Essley Robbs and Iris Queen Robbs.

Tommy was the President of Double R Utilities, Inc. that he started in 1971 and his son later becoming his business partner. He was very hands on and loved to operate equipment on the job and on the farm. He laid many miles of pipes sitting in the seat of an excavator. He was very proud of the involvement of his family in the company and all of his employees. He was an avid farmer that loved to watch his crops grow. Tommy served on the board for the Cherokee County Farm Bureau and South Carolina Forestry Commission. Tommy was a member of New Heights Baptist Church.

Tommy had a great love for racing. Between 1965 and 1981, you could find Tommy at local tracks in an orange and white #59 racecar. He raced at many local tracks including Cherokee Speedway, Shelby Fairgrounds, Rutherford County Fairgrounds, Harris, Hillview, Fountain Inn, Lancaster, Concord, Monroe, Carolina, Spartanburg, Metrolina, Charlotte and Daytona. His ability to race you clean but hard and he would use the bumper when he had to. This gained him a large local following of fans that knew him as Fat Cat. He met lots of lifetime friends through racing that he cherished to the end. He was proud to get to crew chief with his son for many years and recently watch his granddaughter compete on the track. He was a member of Cherokee Speedway Hall of Fame.

He is survived by a close family that he loved dearly, including a daughter, Kristi Robbs-Schroeder (Michelle) of Gaffney; a son, J.R. Robbs (Haley) of Gaffney; and two grandchildren, Jesse Robbs and Gracie Robbs. Mr. Robbs was preceded in death by a brother, Ritchie Robbs.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: New Heights Baptist Church, 1367 Pleasant School Road, Gaffney, SC 29341.

The family will receive friends from 1:00PM until 2:45PM on Thursday, May 15, 2025 at New Heights Baptist Church. Funeral services will immediately follow at 3:00PM at the church with Reverend Kandy Queen-Sutherland, Dr. Clyde Thomas, Mr. J.R. Robbs, and Mr. Kenneth Appling officiating. Interment will be in Grassy Pond Baptist Church Cemetery.

The family will be at the home of J.R. and Haley Robbs, 1350 Robbs School Road.

An online guest register is available at www.blakelyfuneralhome.com

Blakely Funeral Home & Crematory, Gaffney, SC