Robert Lee Ely Jr.

Robert Lee Ely, Jr.

Robert Lee Ely, Jr., beloved husband of the late Rachel Bishop Ely, of Petersburg, VA, and father of Linda Lee Ely, of Alexandria, VA, died peacefully on Sunday, October 2, 2011, surrounded by his immediate family and close friend at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital at the age of 92.

A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, at 3 pm at Culley's Meadow Wood Memorial Park, 700 Timberlane Road, Tallahassee.

A resident of Westminster Oaks, 4425 Meandering Way, Tallahassee, Bob Ely was born September 26, 1919 at Mound Park Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL, to parents, Robert L. Ely, Sr. and Nettie Newton Ely, originally of Chattanooga, Tenn.

The family moved to Miami, FL, in 1931, and Bob graduated from Miami Senior High School in May 1936 at the age of 17, and attended the University of Florida, Gainesville, graduating in May 1940, with a BS degree in Business Administration. He was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity and the Debate Team and a proud life-long Gator.

After college graduation, Bob served as the Assistant Cashier for the University of Florida from May 1940 until February 1941, when he was called to active duty during World War II as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army and assigned to Camp Lee, VA, where he was a member of the original cadre. He met his wife, Rachel Harwood Bishop, in Petersburg, VA, during that assignment in October 1942, and they were married there on January 26, 1943.

Bob's military career continued to the European theater of operations when he was ordered to Patton's Third Army and served as a Battalion Commander from 1944-45. In February 1945, at the age of 25, he received an accelerated promotion to Lieutenant Colonel by General George S. Patton, Jr., making him one of the youngest Lt. Col.'s in the Army, and his wife, Rachel, a colonel's lady at the age of 23.

In May 1945, Bob headed the staff section in the Third Army Headquarters Europe, as Class 1 officer for subsistence and in October 1945, was selected to bring General Patton's personal belongings from Munich, Germany, to Mrs. Patton in Boston, Mass.

In 1945-48, Bob returned to the private sector and family restaurant business in South Florida, until he returned to active duty in the Army in 1948 and served in Washington, DC, as Chief of Non-Perishable Subsistence and Commissary Supervision.

In 1950, Bob went to Eniwetok Atoll for Operation Greenhouse to build the first permanent U.S. base for atomic bomb weapons testing and participated in experiments for the atomic bomb.

In 1951, he took graduate work in food at the U.S. Army Subsistence School in Chicago, IL, and from 1951-54 was Chief of Purchasing at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Procurement Office in Chicago.

In 1954, Bob attended the Army language school in Monterey, CA, to learn Portuguese in preparation for his assignment as a member of the Joint Brazilian Military Commission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and advisor to General Leonidas Amaro of the Brazilian Army (September 1954-July 1957); he was accompanied on this tour by his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Linda, who both learned to speak fluent Portuguese while living there. Upon departure Bob was awarded a Brazilian Meritorious Service Medal by the Brazilian Army in recognition of his outstanding performance and support.

Returning to the States and Chicago, IL, in 1957, Bob served as Deputy Commander of the Army Subsistence Center (1957-59), and was promoted to full Colonel in November 1958, at 39 years of age, becoming one of the Army's youngest.