Robert Bob Henderson Potts

Robert (Bob) Henderson Potts, one of the last executives from Philadelphia’s banking heyday, died August 25 at his Squam Lake, NH residence. He was a resident of Naples, FL and Radnor, PA as well. He was born in Wayne, PA, the youngest child of Joseph and Mabel Potts, and the brother of the late Ruby Potts Howson, Wesley Joseph Potts, Howard Green Potts, and Joseph Potts, Jr.. His middle name came from Henderson Supplee, the founder of Sealtest Dairy and best friend of his father, Joseph Potts, the founder of Potts Ice Cream, now owned by Bassetts. He is survived by sons Robert Henderson Potts, Jr. (Harriet), Thomas Howard Potts (Annie), David Ligget Potts, and daughter Susan Halsey Potts Bloom (Charles); nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; and wife Barbara Davis Kennedy Potts. His first wife of 63 years, Halsey Ligget Potts, died in 2009. He is also survived by stepdaughters Elizabeth Kennedy McFarland (George), Susan Kennedy Brooke (George), and stepson Donald D. Kennedy III (Jenn). Bob was an Eagle Scout and 1942 graduate of The Haverford School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He won the Key Man Award and was known as the Peacemaker. In 2014, he was inducted into the Haverford School Athletic Hall of Fame as a player on the 1942 baseball team. He was on the Board of Trustees as President of the Alumni Association beginning in 1962, and served as Chairman of the Board from 1970 – 1974. In December 1942, while a freshman at Yale University, he enlisted in the Marine Corps for Navy Flight Training. While in the Stateside Squadron in Chapel Hill, NC, he was catcher for the baseball team, and played with baseball legend Ted Williams. He spent many extra practice hours pitching batting practice to Williams. In the Fall, 1944, he joined Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 244, the famous Bombing Banshees, in the Philippines. Their motto was, “We will fly and drink anything.” After the war, he married and graduated from Yale in 1949 in the Class of 1945W. He began his banking career at The Philadelphia National Bank while attending the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania at night. He was called back into the Marine Corps during the Korean War to be a flight instructor in Pensacola, FL from 1952-53. From this deep responsibility for pilots and planes, he personally checked the gas in any vehicle he operated lest he put his passengers in danger. After the Korean War, Philadelphia was a bastion of banking might: Philadelphia National Bank, First Pennsylvania Fidelity Bank, Girard Bank and PSFS, among others. Bob Potts rose through the commercial banking ranks to become Vice-Chairman of PNB when Bank One of Columbus, OH hired him to be its President in 1974. Civic leadership, financial integrity and corporate cooperation among bankers flourished nationwide back then. Among Bob’s many contributions to the citizenry and the business community, he served on the boards of Bryn Mawr Hospital, Alco Standard, the United Way in Philadelphia and Columbus and Visa International. Golf was his global business connector. He was a member of Gulph Mills Golf Club, Bald Peak Colony Club in New Hampshire, and its president from 1995-98, Royal Poinciana and Hole in the Wall in Naples, and Pine Valley Golf Club. He enjoyed playing celebrated golf courses throughout the world. Before retiring, he was engaged by the FDIC to be in charge of the liquidation of the failed MBank in Dallas. Thereafter, he and Halsey traveled with the globe with friends and fellow Yalies. They settled in Naples. All the while his sports allegiances continued to be the Philadelphia Phillies, the 76ers and the Eagles. A celebration of Bob’s life will be held at The Church of the Redeemer, 230 Pennswood Road, Byrn Mawr, Pa on September 22nd at 11:00am. Memorial donations may be sent to The Haverford School, 450 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford Pa 19041. STUARD FH – NEWTOWN SQUARE Formerly of Ardmore