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Bob ‘Trigger’ Doubet, 92, St. James football star and jeweler from Delco

He traveled the world in search of the finest jewels but always came back to his roots in Ridley Park, Delaware County.

Mr. Doubet, with his wife Anne, was the father of five boys. He and Anne were married for 40 years before she passed away in 1990 from cancer.
Mr. Doubet, with his wife Anne, was the father of five boys. He and Anne were married for 40 years before she passed away in 1990 from cancer.Read moreCourtesy of the Doubet Family
    by Ed Barkowitz
    Updated 
    Published 
People We’ve Lost
  • Robert Doubet
  • 92 years old
  • Lived in Ridley Park
  • He came from a family with a rich tradition in jewelry

More Memorials

Everybody knew Robert Doubet by his nickname, “Trigger.” He was a football star in high school, served three years in the Army, and traveled the world as a jeweler.

You might think Trigger meant that Mr. Doubet was associated with guns or had a short fuse. Actually, he liked to play horsey for his five sons before bedtime, and they likened him to Trigger, the famous horse that carried Roy Rogers to screen and TV fame and fortune.

Geoff Doubet, the second of Mr. Doubet’s sons, still laughs when he recalls those laughter-filled bareback rides around the house.

“I’ll tell you what,” Geoff said with a chuckle, “I don’t ever remember calling him ‘Dad.’

Mr. Doubet, 92, died on Thursday, May 7, from the coronavirus while at Sterling Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Media. Even in the community in which he lived his last years, everybody called him Trigger.

Mr. Doubet was born in Chester, and though he lived in many places throughout his life, his heart was always in Delaware County. Ridley Park, specifically St. Madeline’s parish, was his home. His son said Mr. Doubet was a devout Catholic.

Mr. Doubet (pronounced Doo-bay) was the son of Delaware County jeweler Carl Doubet and a junior at St. James High School when he and some buddies pulled a prank that ended up changing his life.

They were at a football game between Prospect Park and Ridley Park when Mr. Doubet and friends stole the megaphones being used by the Prospect Park cheerleaders. After some confusion – the boys hid them in the parking lot – the items were returned, and that’s how Mr. Doubet met Anne Granger.

The high school sweethearts were married for 40 years until she died in 1990.

“He used to love to tell that story,” Geoff said. “They had a great life together.”

Mr. Doubet was the co-captain of the St. James football team with Lou Ferry, who played six seasons in the NFL. Mr. Doubet served in the Army from 1950 to 1952, and was a jewelry salesman throughout his life. He traveled so often that Pan American World Airlines gave him an award in 1971 for accumulating one million travel miles.

The family moved frequently, including two years in Oberammergau, Germany, when Mr. Doubet was an international sales representative for ArtCarved, then a subsidiary of Lenox.

“Trigger took big risks and never looked back,” granddaughter Donna Doubet said. “He loved life, and life loved him back.”

“It was a fun life," said Geoff, a former Army helicopter pilot who was inspired by his dad’s service.

In addition to his son and granddaughter, Mr. Doubet is survived by sons Robert, Christopher, Dale, and Timothy; 11 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Services are pending.

— Ed Barkowitz, ebarkowitz@inquirer.com