Robert "Bobby" Dettloff, an opaquer who worked for Disney from 1993 to 2003, died June 3 in La Mesa, California. He was 52.

"Bobby died of the effects of alcoholism, and this is a fact that we feel is important to share with our friends," his brother said in his eulogy. "For it is only through an awareness of this disease (as with any other disease) and a commitment from those who are afflicted to ask for help that we can help people escape the grip of this most deadly foe. The demons that Bobby wrestled in life are no longer there to bother him, and I have full faith that he is now in God's hands and is at peace."

Detloff had a second career as a guitarist, becoming the stage manager of London on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He played guitar in a jazz band at now-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1980 graduation ceremony at the University of Wisconsin Superior (they graduated in the same class).

Born Robert Edward Dettloff on Chicago's south side on February 2, 1958, he was a painter on the Disney feature films The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet (both 2002), Brother Bear (2003) and Home on the Range (2004), as well as the Oscar-nominated short The Little Matchgirl (2006).

Detloff was hired as a painter by Walt Disney Feature Animation Department in 1994, putting the color into 16 of Disney's feature animated films. These included Tarzan, Fantasia 2000 and The Emperor's New Groove. In 2004, after corporate upheaval at the Walt Disney Studios, the company's traditional animation department was closed down, and Detloff was among the many artists who lost their jobs.

Although he never gave up hoping to break back into animation, he went back to work in the music field, his first love.

Detloff earned a BFA degree on a scholarship and minored in music at UWS in 1976. He sang second tenor on the Carmina Burana with the UWS concert choir and Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Neville Mariner.

He was accepted into the University of Miami music school and studied classical guitar under Cuban legend Juan Mercedal. He also took pre-architecture and art history at UM-Minneapolis.

"I quickly learned the blues as early as four years old in a garage band, where my mom found me three houses down the alley," he said in his Facebook profile. "I was mesmerized by the music, and was amazed at the sound and the plush lining of the guitar cases. I heard a story of Jimmy Page saying the same thing years later in an interview about how he started."

Forming a band, The Flowage Boys, he met such bands as Foghat, Montrose, Black Oak Arkansas, Steppenwolf and Heart. At 19, he headlined the last Vets Club concert in Superior, Wisconsin, attended by 5,000 people and filmed the last rock video at Gazzari's in Hollywood.

In 1985, Detloff played bass for a band called Faster Pussycat. He helped do a tour with Dale Bozzio of the group Missing Persons, once sang with Gary Puckett; and played mandolin for Rod Stewart and his soccer team.

As a side job, he worked in Beverly Hills at Conceptions Design Company, a courier service and interior decorating company for celebrity clientele. There, he not only acted as a courier, but he also served as a designer assistant.

During this time, his acquaintance with actor-musician Dudley Moore grew into a friendship, and Moore had him move into his guest house for a couple of years, having Detloff work for him doing a variety of tasks. He even picked up some valuable instruction from Moore on the classical piano.

Robert Detloff was both a tissue and cornea donor to an organization called Life Sharing.