Robert Kinsley Priddy II

Robert (Rob) Kinsley Priddy II passed on 11/1/23 following a courageous battle with cancer and chronic kidney disease. He was born in Anderson, IN on 11/20/49 to Robert and Marylou Priddy, both now deceased. Rob graduated from Anderson High School in 1968. On his 21st birthday, he received his draft notice –- just a few minutes after he and his wife Marilyn (Tooley) announced their engagement to his parents. For the next six years, Rob served in the Army Reserves, with basic training as a cook at Fort Polk in Louisiana in the summer. During this time, Rob also worked second shifts at GM plants, allowing Marilyn to finish her bachelor's degree and to put himself through school. Rob and Marilyn married in 1972 and Rob graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, IN in 1976 with a B.S. in Natural Resources. His degree included a wonderful summer-long internship in the fire tower on Clay Butte near the NE entrance to Yellowstone.
As soon as he completed his duties with the Army and graduated college, Rob and Marilyn biked and camped through several countries in Europe, studying the manual by lantern at night. Upon returning to the U.S., having run out of funds, Rob started working in environmental health sciences, specializing in water chemistry. He was especially proud to have worked for John Craddock whose team identified and mitigated water pollution in the White River in Muncie. In subsequent jobs, Rob worked as a water quality chemist in Dayton, was chased by dogs while inspecting migrant camps for OSHA, climbed the smokestack at a power plant along the Ohio River, and supervised the clean-up of asbestos, lead, mercury, and other pollutants on many projects. He worked as an environmental health and safety specialist at a large clinical research lab in Michigan and at a silk mill demolition project in PA. Rob retired from American Electric Power's nuclear plant in Bridgman, MI in 2013, taking a central role in the safe rebuilding of a turbine over many months of 12-hour shifts. He and Marilyn then relocated to Shallotte to escape the lake-effect snow. In retirement, he volunteered as a test proctor, home-work advisor, and was an advocate for voting rights.
During his journey through in the Midwest, which involved several transfers and relocations, Rob and Marilyn were blessed with two wonderful daughters, Kyle Priddy (MI) and Katie Sapir (Priddy) Katz (MD), and just last month, with an amazing son-in-law, Itai Katz. Rob recently said the days his daughters were born and his youngest daughter's wedding were the best days of his life. He was a loving father and husband, a caring brother and friend, and a generous caregiver over several years for two elderly neighbors in Shallotte. In addition to his wife, daughters, and son-in-law, Rob is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, David and Susanne Priddy (IN) and his wife's siblings, Janet Tooley (FL), David Tooley (NV), Phil and Jan (Myer) Tooley (IN), Jim Tooley (SC), and Stan Novakoski (IN), married to his late sister-in-law Becky (Tooley) Novakoski, as well as his life-long friends, Bill and Terry Neale (MI). He has many cousins, nieces, nephews who will mourn his loss.
Friends can celebrate Rob's life and love locally at Makai Brewery (OIB) from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on 11/10/23. Please bring a nonperishable food item for the local food pantries. Another celebration will be held in Michigan next June. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Habitat for Humanity.