Robert Allen "Bob" Wilbur Sr.

1929 - 2023

Robert Allen "Bob" Wilbur, Sr.
July 25, 1929 - March 15, 2023
Columbia, South Carolina - Robert Allen "Bob" Wilbur, Sr., 93, passed away on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in the Chapel of Temples-Halloran Funeral Home (5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC 29212). The family will receive friends prior to the service in the Chapel from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow the service in Bush River Memorial Gardens (5400 Bush River Road, Columbia, SC 29212).
Bob was born July 25, 1929, in Glen White, West Virginia to Paul E. and Mary Ann Bolton Wilbur. He was the second oldest of nine children. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, West Virginia. In August of 1950, he married Eva Bragg Wilbur. He joined the Navy and served on the USS Hornet during the Korean War. After a vacation to Daytona Beach Florida, he and Eva stopped in Columbia to visit a friend from West Virginia. They liked it so much that they moved to Columbia.
Bob joined the Columbia Police Department on July 19, 1956, starting off as a rookie patrolman working the midnight shift- - the first assignment of all rookies back then. Two years later, he was assigned to the Traffic Division and became a motorcycle officer. He was moved to the Identification Section in 1963. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1965 and was assigned as training officer for the Columbia Police Academy. He traveled the state teaching police procedures to various state and local agencies. In 1968 he was promoted to Captain of the Training Division. In 1974 he was promoted to second in command in the newly named position of Inspector. After being named Acting Chief on two separate occasions, Bob was appointed Chief of Police on January 27, 1982. After 34 years with the Department, Bob retired on September 30, 1990.
Bob was a previous member of Ascension Lutheran Church where he served on Church Council. After moving to the Seven Oaks area, he and Eva became members of Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Bob was a graduate of the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Among his accomplishments, Bob started the Police Cadet Program with the Columbia Police Department. He attended many law enforcement training programs including the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Upon retirement, the Robert A. Wilbur Police Scholarship Fund was established at the University of South Carolina College of Criminal Justice for a Columbia police officer who has served a minimum of three years of sworn service to the Columbia Police Department and is seeking higher education. He served on the Lexington County Planning Commission. He also served on Lexington County Sheriff's Department Advisory Board.
Bob was active in the two neighborhood associations in which he lived, serving as President of the Northwood Hills Neighborhood Association and later serving as Crime Watch Coordinator for the Gardendale Neighborhood Association.
Bob was honored as a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor of Kentucky on October 8, 1985. He received the Order of the Palmetto by former South Carolina Governor Dick Riley on December 1, 1986.
Bob was a member of the Free Masons Earlewood Lodge #371. He also was a member of Jamil Shrine Temple where he served as a member of the Provost Guard.
Surviving are his daughter Kathy Scott; son Bobby (Donna) Wilbur; grandsons Allen (Marianna) and Jay Wilbur; Dale (Margaret), Brian (Anne), and Jay (Lauren) Scott; and great grandchildren Grady, Caroline, Benjamin and Barrie. He is also survived by his brother, Gene Wilbur and sister, Liz Dailey as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, Bob was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Eva; brothers Bill, Dick, Jim, Charles, and Walter Wilbur, sister, Jane McCoy; and son-in-law Randy Scott.
The family would like to thank Bob's caregivers, LaToya Moore, Nina Blake and Emma Burkett.
Memorials can be made to Redeemer Lutheran Church, 525 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, SC 29210.