Born:

Robert T. (“Bob”) Cantrell, Sr.

Bob Cantrell was born to Webb and Martha Fite Cantrell on February 11, 1914, in Alexandria, Tennessee. After graduating from high school, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. While working at the Corps’ Smokemont Camp in Western North Carolina, he met Kathryn McLain. They were married July 29, 1938 in Waynesville, North Carolina. Bob came to work in Oak Ridge in 1943. During his career at the Y-12 plant, he worked in the Personnel Department and later served as director of the employee recreation leagues. He completed his Y-12 career as a retirement counselor and retired in1979. Bob was a leader in the local Red Cross and an active member of First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge, where he served on the Finance Committee and Administrative Board and as a teacher in the Genesian Sunday School Class. Throughout his life, he delighted in his family, in attending Oak Ridge High School athletic events, in watching sports, especially the World Series, on TV, and in reading political and athletic biographies. He was a “people person” who enjoyed regaling others with stories about his life and family, the church, pastors, and church staff whom he loved, and politics. He had a gift for relating to children and youth because he was a child at heart himself. To his wife, Kathryn, he was “Hoot.” To his children, he was “Dad.” When grandchildren arrived, he became “Pop.” He was preceded in death by his parents and by his wife, Kathryn. His survivors are his daughter and son-in-law, Mary and Jim Underwood, of Oak Ridge; his son and daughter-in law, The Rev. Dr. Robert T. (Bob) Cantrell, Jr. and Marie Cantrell, of Knoxville; and his grandchildren Doug Underwood of Bountiful, Utah, Mike Underwood, of Huntsville, Alabama, Sarah Cantrell, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and The Rev. Wil Cantrell and his wife, Rebecca Cantrell, of Knoxville.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, October 18, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, Oak Ridge. The funeral will follow at 4:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary with the Rev. William C. Mooney and the Rev. Dr. Stella Roberts officiating. The family will also receive friends after the funeral from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. A burial service will be held at Oak Ridge Memorial Gardens on Friday, October 19, at 10:00 a.m. The family requests that memorial gifts be sent to First United Methodist Church, 1350 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN 37830 and designated for “Rev. William C. Mooney Pastoral Visitation Endowment Fund.”