Bob Montoya was a man who served his country with honor, but had one lifelong passion, a love for the Cannabis plant, and later, a love for his wife, Rhonda.
Bob is remembered by Rhonda, who met him at a Cannabis party in 2016, sparking an immediate connection over the plant. They married in January 2017 with a reception on April 20, 2017. Rhonda recalls Bob’s early roots with Cannabis — smoking hash in Morocco in his early 20s — and how he’d always say “cheers” when sparking a joint.
Bob’s unique life started at 17, when, as an Army soldier in Germany, he was handed a camera and told to spy on East German soldiers. He fell in love with the camera then and the military, where he served a distinguished career and commanded our nation’s most iconic battlefield weapon group: an Abrams tank crew.
Bob was a fighter, and he proved it in a tale of true grit and survival. In December 2010, Bob was riding his Harley in an annual toy run and was hit by a car. He often joked that he was the real “million dollar man,” as it had taken a dedicated team at Harborview Medical Center to save his life. After six weeks in a coma, he returned to this side, and with months of rehab, he was back to riding his beloved bike.
During his recovery, Bob became a medical Cannabis patient and then an advocate, educator and friend of the plant. He could be found at the various Cannabis farmers markets, his nose in a jar, always ready to share his story of recovery and how the plant helped save his life. He coined his own phrase: “We are Cannasapiens!” Bob shared with me his belief that the plant could perform modern medicine miracles, like reversing diabetes, kidney failure or gastrointestinal failure from pharmaceuticals. I am certain that his advice helped many others, as he never missed an opportunity to share his medicine.
He spoke about the plant with the sage wisdom of a believer of lived experience, and he kept a careful diet and maintained a high cannabinoid level at all times, crediting the plant for his pain tolerance and ability to function. Bob was an incredibly strong man, the type of man who, in pain, would reach to help another with a smile, a kind word and a firm hand ready to lift.
For several years, Bob contributed to Northwest Leaf magazine, photographing and writing a tribute to genetics and craft medical farming called Micro Strains. His words and photos inspired others, and his love for the plant shone in these pages.
Some of his favorite sayings included “Don’t lie, don’t cheat and don’t steal, and the rest will take care of itself,” and “A saturated endocannabinoid is the way to homeostasis!”
He was very astute, and his favorite plaque in his office reads: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all people some of the time, but you can’t fool Bob!”
While his first love was surely Cannabis, his true love was Rhonda, with whom he was both husband and best friend.
“Bob would also calculate mileage for our roadtrips and see how many TJs (travel joints) we’d need based on one every 20 minutes! Bob taught me the science behind my Cannabis cooking. We had countless wonderful adventures in our ten years. I will feel forever blessed in knowing him and being his wife. He was my soulmate and incredibly loved and admired by so many.”
May God rest his soul — a proud Cannasapian, husband and veteran.
