Robert (Bob) L. Adair, Jr., 94, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2014 in Norman, OK, where he was in residence at the Norman Veterans Administration Center. Bob was preceded in death by his parents, Robert Lafayette Adair, Sr. and Jessie Love Adair, first wife Elaine Freeman, sister Dorothy and brother William.
Bob is survived by his loving and caring wife, Mary Ellen Adair. He is survived also by his sons and daughter from his first marriage: Robert L. Adair III, Randall F. Adair and Lacy Ann Henson and their children and grandchildren. Other survivors include Mary Ellen's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren from a previous marriage.

Bob was born in Huntsville, Alabama on April 21, 1920 and grew up in the Huntsville area. He was elected president of the Huntsville High School senior class of 1938. As a child, Bob learned to play the clarinet and played in the high school band, discovering a love of music that would last throughout his life. Bob was an excellent piano player, taught by his aunt, Myrtle Love, and continued to entertain on the piano well into his 90s.

At Auburn University, Bob was the band leader for the Auburn Knights Orchestra from 1941-42. Bob graduated in 1942 from Auburn University with a B.S. degree and completed six quarters of graduate study in the School of Business Administration, University of Alabama, 1946-47. While at Auburn and the University of Alabama, Bob was a member of Blue Key, Scabbard and Blade, Alpha Tau Omega and Delta Sigma Pi.

Bob was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Artillery during WWII. Bob subsequently transferred to the Army Air Corps, attending Adjutant General School at Ft. Washington, Md., then serving as base adjutant at Stuttgart Army Air Base in Arkansas. By the end of the War, Bob had risen to the rank of Major in the Army Air Corps.

Bob began his long career with the J.C. Penny Company, Inc., in 1947 as a junior auditor in Atlanta, Ga., He served as a senior auditor in Atlanta and Indianapolis and managed the Southern Accounting Division in Dallas from 1956-1963. He was named controller in 1963 and vice-president and comptroller in 1969 at the J.C. Penney corporate headquarters in New York City, continuing in that positon until his retirement in 1975. Bob retired to the Dallas, Texas area and settled on Cedar Creek Lake, where he met his wife, Mary Ellen.

Bob and Mary Ellen lived in Corsicana and Athens, Texas before moving this past year to Norman, Oklahoma.

Visitation will be Saturday, January 3rd from 1:30 - 2:30. The life of Robert L. Adair Jr. will be celebrated Jan. 3rd, 2014 at 2:30 p.m. in a memorial service at DeBerry Funeral Home in Denton, Texas. Graveside services will follow at Trinity Cemetery in Denton.